Legacies
by Brenna
Summary: The future of the extended Bartlet family. Two NEW chapters!
1. A New Life

Legacies by Brenna

Title: "Legacies"  
Author: [Brenna][1] [tkeefer6@home.com][1]  
Disclaimer: The West Wing and its characters are the property of Aaron Sorkin, Warner Brothers, and NBC. No Copyright Infringement is intended. Mortgage...car payment...you'll have better luck getting blood from a turnip than money from me.  
Spoilers: nothing really.  
Description: The extended Bartlet 'family' in the future.  
Rating: G  
Archive: Just tell me where so I can come visit.  
Author's Notes: The idea for this fic came from the recent discussion on the JoshDonnaFF list about baby naming traditions. I have no real idea where this fic will eventually lead. So you've been warned.

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From what seemed like far away she listened to them argue. She knew she should open her eyes and break it up before someone said something that couldn't be forgiven, but her eyelids refused to cooperate. So instead she lay listening to the beeping of the monitors and the voices arguing at her bedside with closed eyes. 

"No, Mom. His name isn't going to be Matthew Gaerte III," she heard her husband whisper fiercely. 

"I don't know why not. It's a good strong name. It's a family name." 

"Jodi is Jewish, Mom."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Nora Gaerte demanded in a loud harsh voice. She had never approved of her son's choice of a wife. Jodi had never cared though because Nora didn't approve of much of anything her son did. She didn't like his choice of careers or the fact that he lived in Washington so why should his choice in women be any different.

"Nora..." Matt Gaerte Sr. admonished. Unlike his wife he genuinely liked Jodi and approved of her as his daughter-in-law. His objections to his son's career choice had more to do with the fact that his job kept him in DC and far away from his parents. Not that the elder Gaerte man couldn't see the appeal in being so far away from his wife's meddling.

"It's a very strongly held taboo, Mom. You don't name a baby after someone still living...Dad and I are both still alive. So we will NOT be naming the baby Matthew."

Jodi was saved from having to wake up to referee the argument by the arrival of someone at the door to her room. So she let herself continue to drift half asleep.

"Matt! We got here as soon as we could," Jodi heard her father tell her husband as his footsteps echoed closer to her bed. Within seconds she felt his hand sweeping the hair back from her forehead. Lighter footsteps approached the bed, and Jodi knew her mother was there as well. She felt someone lean over her opposite her father's position. A kiss was pressed to her cheek and someone took her hand. Jodi heard her mother's voice whisper in her ear, "I know you're faking it. Don't worry I'll play referee for you." Jodi squeezed the hand holding hers in gratitude.

"We were just discussing the baby's name. Matt says they aren't naming the baby Matthew because of some Jewish taboo. Surely it isn't that important," Nora Gaerte demanded. Jodi forced herself not to flinch visibly.

"Yes, it is that important," Jodi's mother told the other woman. "Jodi was raised to respect both her father's and my religions. I know she celebrates Christian holidays with you, but that doesn't mean she doesn't still respect her father's beliefs."

Nora seeing that she had no allies in this fight decided to concede the field of battle for now though Jodi was sure that no matter what they named the baby her mother-in-law would continue to use the matter of her grandson's name like a bludgeon in future family squabbles. "So what is his name going to be?" she demanded of her own son.

"We haven't decided yet," Matt told her.

"You haven't decided yet? He needs a name Matthew!"

"Yeah, I know he does, Mom, but we weren't exactly expecting Jodi to develop complications and go into labor a month early."

"We hadn't picked out Jodi's name before she was born either, Matt" her father told her husband.

"When they brought her to me to nurse that first time...that's when I knew what her name would be."

"And you didn't have any say in naming your own child?" Nora demanded of her father. 

Jodi could almost see her dad shrug before replying, "It just seemed right. Jodi and Matt will decide what to name their son, Nora. Stop pestering them."

"Pestering?" Jodi's mom questioned in a bemused voice.

Further arguments were stopped by the sound of the door opening again. "It's time for Mom to wake up. This little man wants his dinner." Jodi heard her son's whimpers from the vicinity of the doorway and slowly opened her eyes.

"Matt..." she croaked.

"I'm here, sweetheart," he whispered bending close and pressing a swift kiss to her lips. "Have a nice nap?" he asked the twinkle in his eyes revealing that her mother wasn't the only one to realize she had been feigning sleep.

"Yeah..." Jodi managed to croak. Her mother worked the controls of the bed to bring her to a close approximation of a sitting position, and her father handed her a cup of water which she greedily drank from.

"Everybody but Daddy, out!" ordered the nurse as she brought the baby to his mother. Their parents filed quickly from the room, and Matt and Jodi were left alone with their son and the nurse.

The nurse gave instructions as she helped the new mother get the baby boy to nurse for the first time. Matt watched the process in awe as this tiny scrap of humanity that they had created suckled hungrily at his wife's breast. Jodi's entire focus was on their son. As she watched the tiny mouth draw nourishment from her breast, she stroked her son's small fist with her finger. Looking at him images flooded through her so quickly she could hardly take them all in. She recognized some of the images from her childhood, others from television, and photos her mother kept in albums in their home, but she suddenly knew what his name had to be. 

"Matt..." she asked.

"Yeah," he whispered in reply never taking his eyes off their son.

"Josiah..."

"Yeah?" he asked reluctantly tearing his eyes from the baby.

"Yeah....Josiah Leopold Gaerte," Jodi told him looking into his eyes before returning her gaze to her son. "I look at him, and I see his future. I can see it, Matt! He's not related to either of them by blood, but I can see their spirit in him."

"What do you see?" Matt asked her as his gaze too returned to their son.

"I see stubbornness and honor. I see eloquence and intelligence, loyalty and a fierce will. A will to survive the worst life can throw at you. A will to make things better. To fight the good fight."

"He gets that will from your parents," Matt told her.

"Yeah, but they had good examples to follow, and so will he," she reminded him. 

"That's quite a legacy to live up to," he worried.

"You think he won't? You worry we'll push him too hard?" Jodi asked. The worry now clearly evident in her own voice.

"No," Matt assured her. Gazing at his greedily sucking son, he saw what Jodi did. "I think you're right. I didn't know them like you did, but from all the stories I've heard from you and your parents and their friends....I think you're right. Josiah Leopold Gaerte it is."

"Welcome to the world, Little Jed," Joan Delores Lyman Gaerte told her son. 

   [1]: mailto:tkeefer6@home.com



	2. Telling the Family

Legacies2

Matt opened the door to Jodi's hospital room quietly. His parents stood on one side of the hallway and Jodi's parents surrounded by their bodyguards stood on the opposite side. Both sets of parents looked uncomfortable. He knew his parents had never gotten used to the fact that he'd married into a political dynasty in the making. Well, his dad was uncomfortable with the dynasty aspect of his marriage. His mother still hadn't gotten past the fact that his wife was half Jewish. "Come in and get to know your grandson before that Marine Corp reject comes back to take him back to the nursery," Matt whispered to them. "He's finished his dinner."

All four grandparents entered the room leaving the bodyguards standing sentry in the hallway. His mother was predictably the first one to speak. "So I don't suppose you've decided on a name for my grandson have you? Had some sort of epiphany?" she asked sarcastically causing his father to wince and Jodi's parents to glare.

"Yes, we did decide on a name," Matt informed his mother ignoring the barb. "His name is Jed."

"Jed? What kind of hillbilly name is that?" Nora huffed.

Jodi's parents smiled though. "It's short for Josiah, Nora" Donna informed her. "It was the name of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and more recently the President of the United States," she explained as she came forward to take little Jed from his mother's arms. "What's his middle name?" she asked as she slowly rocked the baby in her arms.

"Leopold," Jodi told them through her tears. 

"Josiah Leopold Gaerte," Josh whispered as he gazed at the baby over his wife's shoulder. He reached out to let his first grandchild take hold of his finger with one tiny fist. "They'd be honored, Jodi. Thank you, Matt."

"I don't understand," admitted Matt Sr.

"Mom and Dad were part of President Josiah Bartlet's administration, Matthew," Jodi explained.

"President Bartlet and his Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry, were like surrogate fathers to us. Jodi grew up calling them Grandpa Jed and Grandpa Leo," explained Josh but his eyes never left the baby in his wife's arms.

"Noah, Sara, and I used to spend a couple weeks each summer with the Bartlet's at their Manchester house."

"I thought you said..." Nora began to complain.

"Living people, Mom" Matt interrupted. "President Bartlet and Leo McGarry both died several years ago."

"I don't see why..."

"Shut up, Nora" Matt Sr. told his wife. "It's a fine name."

Donna had been gazing at her grandson during their exchange.

"He's got their spirit," she decided.

"That's what Jodi said," Matt informed her with a smile. "I think she's right."

"I suppose this means you'll be pushing him to follow in your footsteps....become a politician," Nora complained.

"Butcher, baker, candlestick maker..." Donna murmured. "It makes no difference to us. As long as he's happy and makes a difference in this world."

"Doctor, lawyer, cabinet member," Josh whispered in his wife's ear earning himself an elbow in the ribs. "Let me hold him for a minute, then we're going to go and let you get some sleep, Jodi."

"Pictures first, Joshua. We have a lot of family to e-mail when we get back home," Donna told him taking the video camera from its case. The baby was passed around from adult to adult to have his picture taken with each of them. 

"Nora. Matthew, where are you staying? Matt and Jodi really don't have a lot of room at their place," Josh asked as he handed little Jed to his wife for her turn in front of the lens.

"We're fine on the couch, Josh," Matthew Sr. told him.

"You know there are two empty guest rooms at our place. You're welcome to stay with us."

"No, we want to be there to help when the baby gets home."

"Josh and I want to be there as well, Nora. We'll take it in shifts. There's no reason for you to be suffering with the couch when you don't have to. Besides they're not going to release Jodi and Jed for a couple more days."

"Mom, they don't keep new mothers in the hospital more than 24 hours anymore..."

Donna cut her daughter off, "True, if the delivery is without complications. You had complications. I talked to the doctor on the way in. They're keeping you here for a couple days until your blood pressure evens out."

"Thank you, Donna," Matthew said deciding the issue of where they'd sleep before his wife could refuse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*DING*

"Sam, Honey," he heard his wife call him in her slow sweet Southern drawl. "It's a message from Josh and Donna."

"What's it say?" he asked as he returned to her from the master bathroom off their bedroom.

> > "Hi, everybody," Jodi greeted them from the computer screen. "Matt and I....and Mom and Dad of course, would like you to meet someone." The camera angled down from her face to the bundle in her arms. 

"Damn! Josh won the bet. I owe him a bottle of fifty year old scotch," Sam moaned.

"You bet Josh what exactly?" Ainsley asked her husband. The glint in her eye told Sam that he was most likely in serious trouble here.

"Ahh...that Billy would make us grandparents before Jodi made them grandparents."

"You and Josh are in so much trouble, Samuel."

> > "This is Josiah Leopold Gaerte. He weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces yesterday when he was born. He's 19 inches long."

"Well he doesn't get his height from Josh. Must be from Donna's genes," CJ commented as she and Toby watched the message in their shared office at home.

"Matt's pretty tall too."

"Are you sorry I never gave you a son?" CJ asked quietly. "Sorry that we waited until it was too late."

"Claudia Jean..." Toby whispered. "It wasn't too late....don't say that...don't even think that. We have three wonderful children, and I couldn't love them more if they'd come from our bodies. God chose not to give us children of our own flesh and blood. We chose to bring our children into our family. That makes them children of our hearts. I don't regret choosing adoption, and neither should you."

CJ wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "You have the soul and heart of a poet, Tobias. I think your words were the first thing I fell in love with."

> > "I had some problems with my blood pressure so he was born five weeks early, but everything is fine. They're keeping us in the hospital for a couple days until my blood pressure evens out some more."

"That is going to be the most spoiled baby in Washington," Zoey Bartlet-Young commented as she watched the message with her family in the living room of their home.

"Yeah, and that's before the rest of us descend."

"Charlie!" Abby Bartlet chided her son-in-law from her seat on the couch. She had come to live with her youngest daughter a year ago when they had first moved here, leaving the house in Manchester to Ellie. "Your father would have been honored, and so would Leo. Can you sneak away for a bit tomorrow Zoey? We need to get something for little Jed."

"I've got that stupid luncheon for DAR, but then I'm free. Charlie, what do you think we should get the baby?"

"A Notre Dame outfit," Charlie told her with a smile for his mother-in-law.

"Toby will get him something from the Yankee's just to annoy Josh," Zoey remarked. "What do you think Sam and Ainsley will get him?"

Charlie looked at Abbey and together they said, "Gilbert & Sullivan."

Zoey nodded through her laughter.


	3. Contemplating a Change of Address

New Page 1

"God, Donna. Were any of our kids ever that small?" Josh asked later that night after bringing Nora and Matthew back to their brownstone and showing them to one of the guest rooms. 

"No, Jodi weighed 9 pounds when she was born. Sara was smaller at 8 pounds and change. Noah was always a bruiser though. Eleven pounds on that boy. Babies gain a lot of their weight in the last couple weeks before birth, Josh. Jed's a good size for being pre-mature. Anything over 5 pounds is good."

"I guess..."

"Call Abbey or Ellie if you want to, Josh."

"Can I?" he asked in the voice that still reminded her of a kindergartener.

"In the morning, Josh. It's very late. They'll be asleep by now. We're going to have some long days ahead of us if we're going to make time to help Jodi and Matt when they get home from the hospital."

"Donnnnnaaa...." he whined.

"Joshuaaa...." she whined back before turning serious. "Listen Secretary Lyman. You serve at the pleasure of the President, and he serves at the pleasure of the people. We can't just decide to take a few days off. You have meetings in the morning including one with the Ambassador from Japan that you can not blow off. Call Deena and get her to start shuffling your schedule around to get you next week off."

"Yes, Senator. How come I can call Deena and not Abbey?"

"Abbey is eighty-seven years old for God's sake. Deena is forty-three. Not to mention she works for you."

"Ok. You going to call Noah?" Josh asked.

"I called Noah and Sara from the hospital while you were talking to that guy about security for Jodi and Jed. Noah's already working on rescheduling me. I gave him a few hours off in the morning so he could go meet his new nephew."

"And Sara?"

"Our wild child is on her way back from Hong Kong."

"Do I even wanna know?" Josh asked apprehensively.

"Probably not. Should I tell you anyway?"

Josh sighed and nodded.

"She's covering that new round of student protests."

"I didn't need to know that. 'Student protests' what a wonderful euphemism for the opening salvos of a revolution. She's going to get herself killed, Donna! I'll bet she requested the assignment. I should have killed Danny when he let her transfer out of the Washington bureau."

"Lower your voice! Nora and Matthew are just down the hall. She's always been a risk taker, Josh, and don't blame Danny! She's a grown woman. Danny tried to talk her out of it. You know he did, but there was no legitimate reason for him to refuse the transfer. She wanted out of Washington, Josh. She doesn't like all the crap that comes with being the youngest daughter of the Senior Senator from Connecticut and the Secretary of State."

"I know. She wants to make it on her own. I still wish she'd ask for a safer assignment," Josh admitted before dialing the number for his assistant.

"Come to bed," Donna ordered after he'd finished his conversation before climbing into the comfort of their bed. The same bed they'd slept in since their wedding. They'd brought it with them when they'd returned to the DC brownstone Josh had bought when he first came to DC to work in the Majority Whip's office. This house had been rented out for years when the children were growing up when it was just too small for their family. Now that the children were grown though, they'd returned to this place, their first home together. They kept a home in Connecticut now as well, of course, and had since before the end of Bartlet's second term. That last year in office had been hectic for them. Jodi, their eldest, had just been born. Josh was still busy with the Administration, so much of Candidate Lyman's campaigning had actually fallen to Candidate Lyman's beautiful young wife. When the election was over and the new crop of Senators and Representatives had been sworn in that cold winter day, Josh had been sworn into office as the junior Senator from Connecticut as he stood next to the new junior Senator from South Carolina, Ainsley Seaborn. 

None of them had really been surprised when the Republican party had shunned her. It had still hurt her though, but her friends had rallied around her. The same group who'd gotten a dark horse Democratic candidate elected President of the United States not once but twice. Sam had convinced Ainsley that they could get her elected without party support. So she'd resigned her position in the White House Counsel's office and declared herself an Independent candidate. Sam had stayed in the Administration, but spent as much time as he could on the campaign trail with his fiancée. The fairy tale wedding in the White House Rose Garden had been a tailor-made photo opportunity. 'DC's Romeo and Juliet' the press had dubbed them. The public had still been in love with the Bartlet administration, and Jed Bartlet had happily lent his coattails to the gutsy young woman who'd met him in her bathrobe. Sam became her chief of staff as well as her husband that year.

Josh thought about Jed Bartlet and those years of struggle in the White House. He thought of all they'd tried to accomplish during the Bartlet Administration, and how much of it was still left undone over twenty five years later. Josh remembered Donna bringing Jodi into the Oval Office while she was still on maternity leave because the President wanted to see 'the youngest member of the Bartlet Administration'. The White House photographer had been there and taken pictures of President Bartlet holding their daughter. One of those photos hung on the wall in the hallway. While others had been carefully preserved in Jodi's baby book and other photo albums Donna had kept over the years. Josh remembered what President Bartlet had said to him as he'd held the baby he proudly proclaimed as his new granddaughter. "We're doing this for her, Josh. For our children and our children's children. We're doing this...all the long hours, the struggle, the pain. We're doing it to make a better world for them. The good fight....not a bad thing to fight for. Huh, Joshua?" Bartlet had asked as he'd contentedly rocked the baby in his arms.

"Donna?" Josh asked as they lay in the quiet darkness.

"What Joshua?"

"I think it's time we fought the good fight from a different address," he told her.

Donna moved out of the circle of his arms, and the light beside their bed snapped on.

"What address were you thinking of Joshua?" she asked him cautiously. There was a spark in her eyes though that told him she knew exactly what he was talking about, but she wanted to hear him say it out loud.

"The one on Pennsylvania Avenue," he replied.


	4. Off the Record

Josh whistled to himself as he exited his meeting with the Japanese Ambassador

Josh whistled to himself as he exited his meeting with the Japanese Ambassador. One thing he'd learned from years of listening to Jed Bartlet's trivia was economics. Not that he hadn't understood it before, but when you're being lectured to by a Nobel laureate in his chosen field of study, you listen. The Japanese were finally being taken to task for their unfair trade tactics; something Josh thought should have been done years ago. 

"Josh!" Danny Concannon called to him as he hurried to catch up.

"Danny, what can I do for you today?"

"Can I have a comment on why you and Senator Lyman left the State Dinner last night in such a hurry?" Danny asked. 

"Coming out of retirement, Danny?" Josh asked with a smirk. "I thought you were the Washington bureau chief these days. An editor and all that."

"Yeah, I got left shorthanded last night when my protégé's wife went into labor unexpectedly so I'm going to have to cover for him for a few days until his replacement gets in from Hong Kong," Danny replied the twinkle in his eyes matching the grin on his face. "Now do you have a comment for me?"

"Senator Lyman and I were called away to GW Hospital where our eldest daughter, Representative Jodi Gaerte, had gone into premature labor. Mother and baby are fine. If you want more information than that you should contact my daughter's office. I'm sure they'll be happy to tell you," Josh told him as they continued to walk back towards his office.

"Ok, off the record now. The guys at the Post want to know who won the pool."

"Josiah Leopold Gaerte....born sometime around midnight, weighed around 6 pounds. Doctor's keeping them a couple days until Jodi's blood pressure evens out some more. He's got Matt's dark hair and Jodi's face," Josh told his friend as he pulled the photos Donna printed that morning from his jacket pocket.

"Jed, huh?" Danny asked as he studied the pictures as they walked. Josh grabbed him by the shoulder guiding him around a potted plant in his path. "Thanks," Danny mumbled.

"Yeah."

"So how's it feel to be a grandpa?" Danny asked as he followed Josh into his office.

Josh shut the door before turning around to face Danny. "We still off the record, my friend?"

Danny noticed the serious way in which Josh asked the question and was curious. "Off the record."

"Last night Donna and I started talking about trying for a change of address in three years."

"Oh?" asked Danny. "Do you mean the address that I think you mean?"

"Yeah."

"So. What did Donna think?"

Josh chuckled. "She was fine with it until I told her I thought I'd make a pretty cool 'First Husband,' then she flipped."

"You're serious?" Danny asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah."

"You're serious?" he asked again.

"Yes, Danny. I don't want it. I'd make a lousy President. I've mellowed over the years, but not that much. Donna though...the country's ready for a woman as President. Why not Donnatella Lyman?"

"Now that's a campaign I'd like to cover. On second thought, that's a campaign I'd like to be part of."

"Going to write your next Pulitzer prize winning novel, Danny?" Josh asked tongue in cheek.

"Yeah, I think I am. Got a problem with that Mr. Lyman, First Husband, sir?" Danny laughed.

"Nah, I think I can handle that," Josh replied. "Seriously now, Danny. As Matt's boss, what do you think would happen to his job?"

"The suits wouldn't let him stay on the White House Press Corp or the Washington beat for that matter."

"You think he'd take a speech writing job with us?"

"Yeah. Hell, I know those two have socked away enough money for Matt to take a year or so off work to write. I could use a co-author on this new book I'm thinking of writing."

"Can I mention that as a possibility to them?"

"Sure," he agreed before asking, "How are you going to get rid of Nora and Matthew?"

"You heard the Wicked Witch had descended huh?"

"Oh yeah. Matt was hiding in his office last night when Beth called to say Jodi was being taken to GW."

"They're staying with us. Matt and Jodi don't need the stress right now. We'll send 'em back to our place to sleep or something. Matthew's pretty cool, but Nora..."

"I remember the wedding," Danny assured him.

Josh winced at the memory. "She wasn't too happy about the name. Said Jed was a hillbilly name."

"And she's still alive?" 

"Amazingly lucky isn't she," Josh agreed. "Donna was holding the baby at the time, and Jodi was still pretty out of it."

"What's your excuse?"

"I was saving my strength to fight the nation's battles," Josh quipped. 


	5. Telling the Kids

"Hey, big sis. Can I come in?" Noah asked from the doorway of her hospital room.

"I don't have anything you haven't seen before, Noah," Jodi told him.

"Uhh..."

"Oh for God's sake, Noah. I'm decent. Get in here and meet your nephew," she ordered.

"I was going to come by this morning, but we had a thing with the ESEA Bill."

"What kind of thing?" she demanded. Jodi had worked hard to usher the bill through the House for the last four months. "I'm in the hospital less than 24 hours and there's a thing?"

"Clark..." Noah began to explain.

"No!"

"...and Mary Marsh..." Noah continued wincing a little at the eruption that he knew was to come.

"Oh my God...no! Anybody but her!"

"...introduced a rider that would mandate English Only classrooms and require children be transitioned into the mainstream classrooms within three years."

"What?!" Jodi screeched. "You're kidding me!"

"Jodi..."

"You've got to be kidding me, Noah!!"

"Jodi...."

"No, I mean it. You're joking right. I know you didn't just tell me that Mary Marsh and her sidekick, Dan Clark, have introduced a rider that will torpedo the ESEA bill?" Jodi demanded. "Tell me you didn't just say that."

"I just said that."

"Go get my doctor...I'm checking myself out. She's not going to do this. That....that..." Jodi sputtered.

"Sanctimonious, right-wing, Holier than thou..." Sara supplied from the doorway as she dropped her duffel bag to the ground.

"**_Bitch!_**" Jodi finished as she struggled to pull the monitors from her skin.

"Relax, Jodi," Sara ordered. 

"No, I will not relax. I've spent the last four months working that Bill through committee, and I'm not going to let....that...that...woman...ruin it."

"Mom and I helped Becky fix it," Noah reassured her as he gently tucked her back into bed. "Get back in bed before that nurse Matt called the Marine reject comes to find out what's going on. Those monitors are going off like a Christmas tree."

"Don't I even get a hug?" complained Sara as she helped force her sister back into bed.

"You look like shit, Sara" Jodi told her after she got a real look at her sister's appearance. Her t-shirt was torn and stained with something that looked suspiciously like blood, and she held her arm protectively at her side. "You look worse than me, and I'm the one that's hospitalized. You'd better get cleaned up before mom or dad sees you."

"Too late," Donna announced from just inside the door. "Your sister is right, Sara. You look like shit, and what's wrong with your arm?" 

"Nothing's wrong with my arm," Sara answered as truthfully as the daughter of two of Washington's top politicians was likely to answer considering the situation. 

"Then how many ribs have you broken?" Donna asked. Being said top Washington politician and Sara's mother, she'd seen through the evasion. None of her kids could ever get one past Donnatella Lyman. In that they took after their father. 

"Three," Sara admitted. "There was this little..." 

"Riot," Donna finished for her. "Which is quickly becoming a little revolution. We get CNN here in DC, Sara. Not to mention the Washington Post. I believe you know of that fine news organization...wait...yes...you work for them don't you?" 

"Mom...." Sara moaned. "Please, can we do this later?" 

Donna stared at her youngest child. "You get a small reprieve, Sara, because I need to talk to the three of you alone. And since you're all here we're going to take advantage of it. After we've had our little chat, you're going to see Ellie." 

"Mom..." Sara complained. 

"You can't possibly imagine that's going to work?" Noah asked. 

Sara frowned then acquiesced. "What do you need to talk to us about?" she asked. 

"Well, your dad should be here too, but he's going to be in meetings all day. So he'll just have to forgive me for telling you by myself. Dad and I had a talk last night after we got home from seeing Jodi." 

"About what?" asked Jodi.

"A change of address," Donna told them cryptically. 

"To?" asked Noah. 

Jodi saw something in her mother's eyes though, an excitement and purpose that she'd seen before in photos of her parents during two campaigns before she was even born, and answered for her. "Pennsylvania Avenue." 

"Yeah," Donna confirmed. "How do you feel about that?" 

"Dad or you?" asked Noah. 

"Me." 

Jodi frowned thinking about what it would mean for her and Matt. "Matt couldn't stay at the Post, and I'd be useless in the House." 

"We were kinda hoping you'd want to be part of the staff. Both of you." 

"As what?" Jodi asked. 

"It's a little early to decide that don't you think?" Donna asked. "We aren't even officially running yet. Your dad just wants to start positioning me to run." 

"You can't have two of your kids working for you in the West Wing, Mom" Noah informed her. "It would be a PR mistake." 

"We'll work it out." 

"Mom, how sure are you that you're going to do this?" Noah asked. 

Donna looked her son in the eye not saying a word. She wasn't sure how to answer, but she didn't need to say anything aloud. Noah always could read his mother from the look in her eyes. He nodded. "Ok," he decided. "Here's what we're going to do, Mom. I'm going to resign." 

"Noah!" she protested. 

"Kate offered me a position at the SPLC a month ago. I wasn't going to take it because I've been content working for you, but now I think it would be a good idea. If I leave now it won't attract any attention. If we wait someone will notice and start asking questions," he explained. 

"But Noah," Donna said. "Is this what you want?" 

Noah smirked. "A chance to work with the infamous Kate Ziegler. Are you kidding?" 

"Oh God," Donna mumbled recognizing the gleam in his eye. It was the same one Josh got in his eye for her. "Noah, if you hurt CJ's baby girl she'll break your kneecaps," Donna warned her son. 

"Not to mention what Toby will do to you," Jodi added.


	6. Friends and Daughters

Later that day sitting in his office

Later that day sitting in his office, Noah dialed the number he knew by heart and waited for the person at the other end to answer.

"Ziegler...speak."

"Nice phone manners you have there, Kate," he answered. He had a hard time remembering a time in his life before Kate Ziegler entered his world. He'd first met her at the funeral of Leo McGarry soon after CJ and Toby had brought her into their lives as a frightened, belligerent foster child. Kate had already been moved through a half dozen foster homes in the three years since her mother had died in a car accident. Her social worker had been out of ideas and out of options when she'd sent the troubled girl to the Zieglers. The social worker knew that Toby and CJ wouldn't 'put up with her crap' as Kate had later told him. 

All of the former Bartlet staffers had been devastated at Leo's loss, former President Bartlet most of all. Because of his illness, Jed Bartlet had expected to be the first to go, mentally if not physically, but that wasn't to be the case. The MS, still in remission, hadn't stolen his mind from him yet, but Leo's death had stolen an important piece of his heart. 

He remembered the murderous glare Kate had worn as she followed CJ and Toby into the Lyman home in DC the night before the memorial service at the National Cathedral. The two adults had looked as distraught as his own parents, and one look at Kate had convinced him that she was doing her best to make things worse. 

After dinner that night he'd found her sitting outside on the steps of their home. 

"Hi," Noah had greeted her. 

"Go away," she'd grumbled. 

"Look, I know you don't want to be here..." 

"What makes you think that?" 

"Who you trying to kid? Just...I know you don't know CJ and Toby very well, but why are you giving 'em such a hard time?" 

"I just...the social workers are just going to pull me out again. I'm tired of getting attached to people only to have them give me back," Kate had admitted. 

"I don't think Toby and CJ want to give you back." 

"Why wouldn't they? I'm a pain in the ass. I have a smart mouth. I talk back..." 

"Unless it's escaped your attention...you've just described Toby and CJ," Noah had pointed out. 

"Yeah...I guess I am a lot like them. Doesn't change the fact that I'm too old for anyone to want to adopt me." 

Noah didn't know what to say to that. Grandpa Jed would know though Noah had told himself. "Just...don't get mad at them right now, 'kay? Leo meant the world to them...to my parents too. They're dealing with enough right now without you making trouble. You remember how you felt when your mom died, don't you?" 

"I don't wanna talk about it!" Kate had growled at him. 

"Leo was like a father to them." 

"How do you know all this stuff?" 

"My mom and dad worked for him in the White House too. Mom's been crying since Aunt Margaret called her, and Dad...he locked himself in their office, but I could hear him crying too," Noah admitted. It was a frightening thing for a twelve year old boy to find his father crying, and he wanted to do whatever he could to make the sad, haunted look in his father's eyes go away. If all he could do was talk this angry girl out of making trouble, that was what he'd do. 

"What's going to happen tomorrow?" she'd asked. 

"There's going to be a memorial at the National Cathedral," Noah had told her. He'd explained everything he knew about what would happen the next day at the cathedral including what to do and say to the various politicians who would attend just as his parents had explained it to him. "Grandpa Jed is coming." 

"Grandpa Jed?" 

"President Bartlet...you'll get to meet him. Leo was his best friend. Then there will be a bunch of people coming back here. Grandpa Leo left a tape that he wanted them to watch together....it's sort of a will," Noah had explained. 

Kate must have taken his words to heart because the next day she had been on her best behavior during the service at the Cathedral. He had noticed her carefully watching CJ and Toby as they grieved. Kate had indeed met Jed Bartlet and his family. Noah had seen to it that his Grandpa Jed heard all about Kate, her problems, and her fears. He'd asked Kate to ride back to the Lyman home with him alone. Even his wife was asked to ride with their daughter in the second Suburban. He didn't know what Kate and Bartlet had spoken of during that car ride. Only Kate did, and she spoke of it to no one. He remembered how nervous CJ and Toby had been leaving their delinquent foster child alone with the former President of the United States. When the car had pulled up at the curb and Kate and Jed Bartlet had stepped out there'd been a tiny smile on his face. 

"Daughters are God's punishment for being born men, Toby" Bartlet had told him. "You live in fear that one day they'll start dating someone just like you." 

"That's alright, sir" Toby had replied. "I don't intend to let Kate date until she's thirty...maybe not even then." 

"You can't lock our daughter up until she's thirty, Toby," CJ had argued. 

"Like Hell I can't. I'm not letting some testosterone crazed teenager out alone with my baby girl." 

"**_Our_ ** baby girl can take care of herself." 

The tears had slipped unnoticed down Kate's face as she finally let herself believe that CJ and Toby were indeed committed to being her parents. She'd glanced quickly at Bartlet who'd smiled back and told her to call him 'Grandpa Jed'. 

When the Zieglers had left the next day, he'd given Kate his e-mail address. The first message had arrived the next day. There'd been other meetings, of course, many at the Manchester home of President Bartlet. When their Grandpa Jed had died six years later just after Noah had turned eighteen they'd comforted each other through a second memorial at the National Cathedral. When they'd both been accepted to Harvard, the choice for both of them had been obvious. Leaving home had been much more bearable being together, but during all those years of growing up and later college, they'd never seen each other in a boy-girl sense. It wasn't until he'd watched his sister grow large with child and thoughts of having children of his own filled his mind that his feelings for Kate had begun to change. In all the fantasies he'd had the last few months of having children of his own, it was always Kate who was the mother of those children. Now if only he could convince his best friend to be more than friends. 

"What's up, Lyman?" she asked. 

"Is that job offer still open?" he asked in return as he motioned Sara into his office where she dropped bonelessly into one of the chairs opposite his desk. She'd convinced their mother that driving all the way to Manchester just so Ellie could take a look at three broken ribs was a waste of time, and so Sara had been seen by a doctor at GW after their visit with Jodi and baby Jed. She'd left with a prescription for painkillers and orders to take it easy for a few days. Sara had snorted upon hearing that order causing her mother to glare and threaten dire consequences if she didn't do exactly as the doctor had ordered. 

"Yeah..." Kate drawled out. "I thought you were working for your mom though?" 

"Long story. I'll tell you when I get there, if the job's still open?" 

"So what? You don't get the job; I don't get the story?" 

"Something like that, yeah," Noah smirked. 

"Alright. Let me talk to Dad," Kate agreed. 

"Listen, Kate. I'm going to need a place to stay until I find an apartment. Can I crash with you for awhile?" 

Sara had been listening with half an ear during his conversation until that point as she slouched in one of the visitor's chairs. Sitting bolt upright she grabbed a pad of paper and a felt pen from his desk and hastily scribbled a note in bold capital letters before holding it up to him. **'ARE YOU NUTS?!'** the note read. 

"Sure, mein liebchen" Kate replied using the pet name she'd given him during high school when she'd been learning German. She'd always gotten a kick out of her mother calling his dad 'mi amor', and this was her way of carrying on the tradition. 

Noah smirked knowing Kate had no idea that he meant to convince her that he really was her 'liebchen'. "I'll be waiting to hear from you. Take care," he told her just before he hung up. 

"Can I crash with you for a while?" Sara parroted him. "Do you want to get kneecapped that badly, Noah? 'Cause Mom wasn't kidding when she told you CJ's going to break 'em if you hurt Kate." 

"Have some faith, Sara" Noah quipped. 

"You, brother dear, are a train wreck waiting to happen," Sara declared. 


	7. Once More Into the Breach...

Kate was standing at the terminal when he dragged himself wearily off the flight from DC

Kate was standing at the terminal when he dragged himself wearily off the flight from DC. Once the decision had been made things had moved very quickly, and Toby Ziegler, director of Southern Poverty Law Center, had told him to get down to Alabama to start work on Monday. 

"Liebchen," she greeted him with a hug. 

"I've missed you, Kate" Noah told her as he savored the feel of her in his arms. 

"Let's get your stuff," Kate told him as she led him to the baggage carousel to collect his luggage. Within another half hour they were in the car headed towards Kate's condo. "So what's the story?" she asked. 

"Let's hold off on that. You said your mom and dad wanted to have both of us to dinner. I'd rather tell you all at once." 

"What happened, Noah?" Kate asked again. 

"Nothing!" he told her. "Nothing bad happened. It would just be better if I weren't working for my mother." 

"Alright," she decided. "I'll let that drop for now. Who did you get to replace you?" 

"Billy," Noah told her. The car jerked to the right as Kate's attention shot to her passenger. "Hey!! Be careful." 

"Billy?" she asked. "You can't mean..." 

"William Hayes Seaborn. Yes." 

"Billy?" Kate asked again. "Billy isn't a Democrat." 

"He's an Independent." 

"With serious Republican leanings," Kate countered. 

"He gets it from his mom. It's not his fault he's a political mongrel," Noah quipped causing Kate to laugh until tears rolled down her cheeks. 

"Political mongrel?" Kate asked. "Tell me you've never said that to his face." 

Noah shot her a shocked look. "Kate! I can't believe you'd think I'd ever do anything like that. It would be like kicking a puppy." 

Kate pulled up in front of her home and turned off the engine. "I thought Billy was working for his dad?" 

"Yeah, but he was only a junior staffer." 

"You were only a junior staffer." 

"I was further up the food chain than Billy," Noah protested. 

"The food chain for the Governor of South Carolina is a lot bigger than the senior Senator from Connecticut, and that still doesn't explain why Billy would drop everything to move to DC." 

"Sara got recalled from China. Officially, she's covering the White House for Matt while he's on paternity leave." 

"Unofficially?" Kate asked. 

"Unofficially, I think someone at the State Department pointed out that having the Secretary of State's daughter covering a situation that was fast becoming a revolution had a huge potential for becoming an international incident." 

"Someone at the State Department? And why would someone at the State Department do that?" 

"Maybe because the Secretary of State is an over-protective father and told them too?" Noah pretended to guess with an almost straight face. 

"Maybe," Kate agreed with a chuckle. "That does explain Billy's decision though. Has Sara gotten a clue yet?" Kate asked as she unlocked the front door. 

"No," Noah replied as he dropped his luggage inside the door. "But she isn't the only one." 

"What?" asked Kate. "Who else?" 

"I can't tell you. Ask me again in a few weeks," he told her gazing deeply into her eyes. 

"We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow," she announced breaking eye contact as she tried to quell the knot in her stomach. Noah had always had an affect on her, but he only saw her as a friend. She wasn't going to jeopardize their friendship by making a pass at him she told herself yet again. 

"Oh?" Noah asked. "I figured tomorrow would be some sort of orientation." 

"Fraid not, liebchen" Kate replied. "We're filing a suit tomorrow. Dad's going to need you in on it since you have your license in Virginia." 

"What?" 

"We're bringing a wrongful death suit on behalf of Jasmine and Mark Genaro's children with the cooperation of the grandparents." 

"Jesus!" Noah breathed. He was familiar with the case. It had been all over the media for months. A black woman and her white husband had been found murdered just outside the Newseum at Rosslyn, Virginia. The crime had been particularly gruesome and shocking, and so the police had quickly ascertained that the bodies had been dumped there while the actual murders took place somewhere more remote. It had puzzled the authorities why the Newseum had been chosen as the dumping ground, but only at first. When the police had arrested four suspects in the Genaro murders the phones at his parent's offices and their home had rung off the hook for weeks with reporters wanting a comment. That night his parents had opened their photo albums and several bottles of wine and allowed the alcohol to numb them as the memories they'd tried so hard to put behind them resurfaced yet again. "The Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of the orphaned Genaro children is suing West Virginia White Pride?" 

Kate nodded taking hold of his hand. She was glad she'd been the one to tell him. This would be a difficult first case for him, but she knew it was the right decision. Noah, unlike his father, was a brilliant attorney and had experience with this kind of case from his internship with Charlie Young. "Mom and Dad are calling everyone in the family tonight to prepare them. It'll hit the news cycle tomorrow night in time for the evening news." 

"Once more into the breach..." Noah murmured. 


	8. Fathers and Sons

New Page 1

"Noah," Toby greeted him as he followed Kate into her parent's home for dinner. 

"Hi, Noah" Nathan, the youngest Ziegler child, greeted him. 

"What are you doing here, kiddo?" he asked as he hugged the young man. 

"School doesn't start until August, Noah" Nate reminded him. 

"Purdue, right?" Noah asked. 

Nate nodded. He and his older sister Penny had been very traumatized when they'd been brought into CJ and Toby's home. Their father in a drunken rage had shot their mother then turned the gun on himself in full view of Nate and Penny. After their success with Kate, the social worker had hoped they'd be able to work a similar miracle with Penny. Their social worker hadn't wanted to separate Nate from his sister so the Zieglers took both children. CJ and Toby were already old hands at dealing with loud smart-mouthed children, but they had no idea how to help Nate who hadn't spoken a word since his parents' death. The social worker and psychologist could only tell them to give it time. Seven weeks after Nate and Penny came to them, Toby found the little boy watching the Discovery channel. 

"Whatcha watching there sport?" Toby had asked though he didn't expect a response. 

Nate had turned his solemn little face to look at Toby for several seconds, but as soon as the commercial had ended his attention had zeroed back in on the television. It took Toby only a few minutes to realize the program that so entranced the little boy was about NASA and the space shuttle. He'd sat down next to Nate and tugged the little boy into his lap. They had watched the entire program together without saying a word. After the program was over, Toby had reached across the arm of the sofa to grab the phone. 

"Dr. Ziegler," the voice at the other end had answered after several rings. 

"David, it's Toby. How'd you feel about me coming out to visit for a few days? I'll be bringing a young gentleman named Nate with me," Toby had explained causing Nate's head to turn upwards to watch Toby. 

"You know you're always welcome. Nate one of your foster kids?" David asked. 

"Yeah, listen" Toby asked, "are there any launches coming up?" Toby watched as Nate's eyes grew wide. 

"Got a little astronaut on your hands?" David guessed. 

"I think so," Toby agreed. "But he won't talk to us so I can't be sure. Nate, how'd you like to go see a shuttle launch?" Toby hadn't thought it possible, but Nate's eyes had gotten even bigger in his serious little face. "I'll take that for a yes," Toby decided. 

"There's a launch in nine days," David had informed him. "We want this to be special, don't we?" 

"Yeah," Toby admitted. Arrangements had been made. Neither Kate nor Penny had been happy at the idea of going to the Cape. So CJ had decided to take the girls on a 'girls trip' at the same time. CJ decided that the safest bet to give two teenage girls a special trip would be Hollywood. So she'd broken out her old address book and made arrangements. Both trips had been more successful that either Toby or CJ could have believed. Nate had returned from Cape Canaveral chattering like a magpie about observing a space shuttle launch from inside Mission Control. Penny had returned with a goal for her future after a visit to a recording studio. 

Now Nate was taking the next step to following his uncle David into NASA. 

"So why'd you decide to leave DC?" CJ asked getting right to the heart of the matter. "Enquiring minds want to know." 

"Mom's going to run." 

"You mean?" CJ asked. 

"Yeah. She can't have two of her kids working in the administration when she wins. It would be a PR debacle, and Jodi will be of more use to her than I will," Noah explained as he followed the others into the dining room. 

"So what's the plan?" Toby asked taking his seat at the head of the table. 

"Tom Buckley isn't running again," Noah told them. "Mom's already been approached." 

"Senate Majority Leader?" Kate asked. 

"If the Democrats keep the majority," CJ agreed. 

Throughout dinner they discussed campaigns past and future. CJ and Toby told stories of the Bartlet campaigns, and Noah regaled them with stories of the year when he was four when both Josh and Donna had been campaigning. Josh had been running to keep his seat in the Senate, and Donna had been running for the first time for the House seat in their home district. Representative Scott Cabel had died in office the previous year, and the governor had appointed his mother to finish out the term. It had been an astute move on the governor's part that made no waves within the state. Donna was well known from campaigning for Josh while he was still busy as part of the Bartlet administration. The people of Connecticut had loved Donna Lyman and still remembered her five years later when the governor had made the appointment. With a year of service under her belt she'd had little trouble winning the seat on her own merit. The logistics of running two simultaneous campaigns had given his parents countless headaches though. 

Toby and CJ speculated about who Donna would be facing in the race, both Democrat and Republican, and the challenges she'd be facing to get herself on the ticket. She was going to have to get her face out there in front of the voters. Josh's plan was to make her so familiar with the voters before even announcing her candidacy that her qualifications wouldn't even be questioned. After dinner CJ excused herself to call Donna, and Nathan left to go out with friends leaving Toby and Kate to speak to Noah alone. 

"Did Kate explain about the suit?" Toby asked in the carefully controlled whisper he used when something was important to him. 

"Yeah," Noah replied in an equally quiet tone. 

"How do you feel about being part of it?" 

"Do you know what my earliest memory is, Uncle Toby?" Noah asked looking first at the older man and then at Kate. 

"Tell me," Toby commanded not knowing what path Noah's thoughts were taking him, but willing to follow. 

"I was maybe three years old," Noah said. "I remember sitting on Dad's lap, and for some reason he had his shirt off. Dad never takes his shirt off, so I guess it was a big thing to me. I sat there tracing the scar on his chest and asked him how he'd gotten it." Noah's voice faded a bit and his eyes got a far away look. Toby and Kate didn't move. They did nothing to disturb Noah's thoughts. They just waited. "He told me about it then. Told me about how before I was born three teenagers opened fire on a crowd including the President of the United States because they hated the fact that a black man was dating a white woman. He described being shot and told me about the months after during his recovery. He told me about the PTSD. He must have sat there for hours answering my questions...trying to help me understand why someone would do something like that. Hate that much. It was pretty hard for a three year old to understand," Noah remembered. His eyes snapped back into focus and came to rest on the two people in front of him. 

"My first memory is learning about one of the worst kind of hate and bigotry and intolerance I can imagine. Last night after Kate told me, all I could think about were the Genaro kids. My dad survived the hate, but their parents didn't. I thought about baby Jed," Noah told them. "Three or four years from now when he's sitting on his grandpa's lap and sees the scars, will Dad be able to say things are different now?" 

"I don't know," Toby admitted. "But even if they're not different. If we do this at least we can say we tried to make it different. Your Grandpa Leo told us once that sometimes we were going to walk into walls, but we were going to do it running!" 

"Toby, it's not exactly a secret that I keep track of this particular group," Noah told him. "It's the same group, Toby. The same people who were the foot soldiers when Dad was shot are the leaders of this group now." 

"I know," Toby told him. "You think you're the only one who's kept track of them? Did your dad tell you that Sam and I tried to get him to sue them after it happened? Sam, Charlie, and I have tracked this group together since your dad was shot. Over thirty years. I know your mom keeps track of them too 'cause she passes information on to us sometimes. Josh doesn't. Its his way of coping with it, I guess, but he's never wanted to know." 

Noah nodded. "It might hurt the case if I'm a part of it," he said. 

"I don't think so," Kate disagreed. "If anything, the lead attorney will cause the biggest stir." 

"Charlie took the case didn't he?" Noah guessed. 

"You surprised?" Toby asked in return. "Charlie's been wanting a chance to sue their asses since he passed the bar, and now we've got it. He's kept his bar membership in Virginia current even though he's lived in New Hampshire for twenty five years. Charlie brought the case to us to begin with. He doesn't have the resources to do it justice by himself." 

"I guess I'm not really surprised." Noah told them, "Bring it on." 

"Good," Toby said. "We have a lot of work to do. You and Charlie are going to be attorney of record 'cause you're licensed in Virginia and the rest of us aren't." 

"Rest of us?" Noah asked. "How many people are you bringing in on this?" 

"We're going to bury them this time, Noah" Toby told him with fire in his eyes and steel in his voice. "We're pulling out all the stops. We're going to subpoena everything. Every piece of paper, every e-mail, every piece of data on their computers. Everything. West Virginia White Pride isn't going to know what hit them." 


	9. On the Record

New Page 1

"What do you mean I'm back on the Washington beat?" Sara demanded as she stood in front of her boss's desk.

"You're back on the Washington beat," Danny told her again. 

"I'm a foreign correspondent now. I transferred out of the Washington bureau."

"You've been transferred back in. With Matt out on paternity leave, I need you here," Danny told her.

"For how long?" Sara asked with more than a little suspicion in her voice.

Danny Concannon, editor of the Washington Post, grimaced. "I'm sorry, kiddo, but you're not going to be doing overseas work for a while."

"He got to you!"

"No, he didn't get to me," Danny denied. "I fought for you, Sara. I really did."

"Then why am I being kept off overseas assignments?"

"He got to the lawyers. Who went to Grevey," Danny explained. 

"I'm going to kill him," Sara vowed.

"You're not going to kill your own father. He was just trying to protect you."

"What did he do? How did he get me pulled back to DC?"

Danny explained the visit from the State department that the Washington Post's lawyers had received. "Sara, the Post can't afford to piss off the Secretary of State," Danny defended his bosses decision. "Besides, after what your dad told me, it's probably for the best."

"What?!"

"Close the door, Sara" he commanded her. After Sara closed the door, she dropped bonelessly into the chair opposite Danny. "Sara, if your mom wins, the Secret Service would have kittens about you working as a foreign correspondent."

"I won't be able to work the Washington beat either," Sara argued.

"I know," Danny admitted. 

"I'm going to lose my job if she wins," Sara murmured.

"No!" Danny denied. "Here's what I think. For now, fill in for Matt 'cause I really am shorthanded here. You're good, Sara. Really good. The Post doesn't want to lose you. I think you'd be good at investigative features. Scams, murders, corruption. Its going to be better for you if you've already established yourself as a feature writer rather than be pulled back to DC because the Secret Service can't protect you in a war zone."

"Okay" Sara agreed though she sounded dubious even to herself.

"Think about it at least. This afternoon I need you to go out Rosslyn for this press conference Charlie is holding."

"I think you should send someone else Danny. It would be a conflict of interest for me to report on it."

"Oh?" asked Danny. "You know something?"

Sara nodded. 

"On or off the record."

"It can be on the record. Charlie with the help of the SPLC is bringing a wrongful death suit against the West Virginia White Pride on behalf of the Genaro children."

"Sweet! I can see that you'd have pretty strong feelings about the case...." Danny began to argue only to be interrupted by Sara.

"Noah's one of the attorney's of record on the suit."

"O...kay," Danny conceded the wheels obviously turning. "Noah? How'd Noah become part of this?"

"Noah took a job at the SPLC," Sara informed him. "He started yesterday."

"Noah's working for Toby?" Danny smirked. "That's going to be interesting."

"Oh you don't know the half of it," Sara chortled. "Noah's realized he's in love with Kate. He's talked her into letting him crash at her place."

"Oh that's a disaster looking for a place to happen," Danny agreed. He and Sara laughed themselves silly thinking of what kind of trouble Noah was going to cause for himself. 

Finally sobering Danny asked, "If I send Jake, will you go along to babysit? Make sure he asks the right questions? Co-author the piece if you have to and we'll put a disclaimer about your relationship to those involved at the bottom." Jake Carruthers was one of the youngest and newest reporters covering the DC area for the Post. Like Matt, he was another of Danny's protégés. Fresh out of college, he was another of the dying breed that still believed there could be honor in journalism. Danny and Sara both had experience with this particular story from well before she was born though, and Danny knew that gave the Post an edge. She was sure Danny would pull rank and write an editorial of his own about the lawsuit once she and Jake has returned from the press conference.

"Sure, Danny" she agreed and waved as she left his office. "Jake!" Sara yelled spotting the younger man walking away from her.

"When did you get back, Sara?" he asked as he swept her into his arms for a hug.

"Broken ribs, Jake.....broken ribs," Sara gasped in pain causing Jake to slacken his grip immediately.

"What happened?" Jake asked.

"I was in China."

"Mmm....exciting stuff," he said. "Why are you here then?"

"I came back for a few days because Matt and Jodi just had their baby, and I wanted to meet my nephew. Unfortunately Dad has managed to get me grounded from overseas assignments. The suits are too afraid to piss him off."

"Sorry," Jake commiserated. "Whatcha need, hot stuff?"

"We're heading to Rosslyn to cover a press conference."

"Two of us?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, I'm a little too close to the story so I'm going to fill you in on the background, but you're going to be covering it."

"You're my babysitter," Jake translated as he followed her down to the parking garage.

"Yeah," Sara admitted. "As far as I'm concerned though, I'm just a spectator."

"Where in Rosslyn are we going?" he asked as he started the car.

"The Newseum," Sara told him.

"Isn't that..."

"Where the Genaro's were dumped...yeah." 

"I was going to say...isn't that where your dad was shot?"

"That too," Sara admitted. "Drive."


	10. Of Safety and Security

Of Safety and Security

As soon as Sara exited the car warning bells began ringing loudly in the back of her head. She scanned the area where the press conference would take place as she'd been taught as a teenager. For each of Josh Lyman's children the reality of their father's shooting had affected their lives in different ways. Noah had become a vocal supporter of civil rights. The entire extended family knew Noah was just marking time working for his mother, so it was no real surprise that he took the job working for Toby. For Jodi, the cause had been gun control. When at the age of nine Jodi had organized a gun safety presentation for her class at school, she knew she'd found her life's quest. Sara had always been the different one in the family. Being the youngest, she'd been sheltered by the family. The Rosslyn shooting hadn't really meant anything to her until she was fourteen and her eighth grade U.S. history teacher, knowing who Jodi was, asked her father to come speak about it. 

Sara's nightmares had begun that night and continued every night after for months. She didn't feel safe anymore. Josh and Donna didn't know what to do for their youngest until an old family friend has stepped in with an unusual suggestion. Sara had left for camp the next day. It was a different sort of camp run by an older man named Ron Butterfield. Butterfield had left the Secret Service soon after Bartlet had left office. With the help and encouragement of old friends and colleagues, he'd started his own business offering protection to politicians, entertainers, and other celebrities. Two of his first clients were the new senators from Connecticut and South Carolina. Butterfield had set up the camp to train his employees to rival the Secret Service when it came to protecting their charges. He and the other instructors had taught Sara how to protect not only herself but others that summer. By the time she'd returned to school in the fall, she had felt safe again. Confident that she would know what to do in any life-threatening situation. Throughout high school, she had returned to Ron's camp in the summers to learn more. She had even toyed with the idea of going to work for Butterfield Security, but her passion for writing had won that battle. Ron's training had saved her life and the lives of others many times in the last two years as she'd worked overseas in several of the world's hot spots. A fact she had carefully kept from her family. 

Now that training was telling her that there was danger here. She quickly scanned the covey of reporters standing near the podium and dismissed them just as quickly. The threat wasn't there, but where was it? Her eyes swept the tourists milling around the entrance to the museum, picking them out. White supremacists. Since the President's shooting the Newseum had been a kind of tourist attraction for hate groups. Like some sort of battle monument they considered this the site of a great victory for them. Sara had been here before several times doing research. For some reason she felt drawn to this place that changed the lives of everyone she loved so much. On the hard drive of her computer and backed up to a server on the internet was a file simply title 'Rosslyn'. It was a book she'd been working on since she'd taken her first writing class in high school. She didn't know if she'd ever finish it, and if she did finish it if she'd ever find the courage to publish it. Through her research she knew that a few 'skinheads' visited each day mixed in with the normal tourist groups. Today there appeared to be more than a few. Sara reached back into the car and pulled out the duffel she'd thrown in the back seat as they left the Post building.

"Jake, I'm going to go talk to my uncle for a minute," she told the younger reporter. "Do me a favor. Find the Newseum curator and find out if there's been an increase in the number of skinheads visiting. Specifically today."

"Why?" Jake asked.

"Just do it....I'll explain why later," she ordered as she walked towards the distinguished middle aged man standing off to the side behind the podium as he spoke to another younger man who appeared to be an aide of some kind.

"Have we heard from Toby Ziegler yet?" Charlie asked his assistant Rick.

"No," he told Charlie.

"Their flight lands at 8 tonight," Sara offered as she walked up behind him. "Hi, Charlie."

"Sara! Come give me a hug," he demanded as he pulled her into his embrace for a gentle hug. "I hear you came back with some broken ribs?" 

"It was only three ribs," Sara explained. "I'm fine. Charlie, I've got something for you."

"Bring me back a present from China?" he quipped as he watched her open the duffel bag. Looking inside he was surprised to find a kevlar vest. "Where'd you get that?"

"Ron gave it to me when I turned eighteen," Sara explained as Charlie pulled the vest from the bag.

"Sara, why is there a hole in this vest?" Charlie asked. 

"Umm..."

"Which side are those broken ribs on?" he asked with a hard glint in his eye. "Sara," Charlie demanded when it appeared as if she wasn't going to answer.

"The right," Sara finally admitted. "Please can we just keep this between you and I?"

"You were shot!?" Charlie demanded.

"No I wasn't shot," Sara refuted then had to backpedal as Charlie held the vest up for her inspection displaying the hole on the right side. "Well, technically I was shot, but the vest caught the brunt of the impact. I'm fine!"

"Technically!"

"Dad already browbeat the Post's lawyers into keeping me in the DC area. So can we skip the 'your job is too dangerous' and 'you should tell your parents' parts of this conversation and move onto 'wear the damn vest, uncle Charlie!'" 

"I don't need a vest," Charlie protested.

"And apparently you didn't need any Butterfields?" Sara asked using the term her mother, the trivia junky, had coined for the protective agents who worked for Butterfield Security. It was a play off of the term 'Pinkertons' used to describe the investigators Allen Pinkerton had trained just after the Civil War. Pinkerton had also helped form the Secret Service making the term even more apropos. The term had caught on among the former Bartlet staffers and among Butterfield's employees themselves. It had become a point of honor to be able to claim status as a Butterfield. "And there are only four cops out there! Jesus, uncle Charlie!"

"I'm hold a press conference, Sara, not walking into a war zone."

"Wear. the. damn. vest," Sara demanded enunciating each word carefully. "This place is crawling with skinheads! Ron trained me, remember? I have a really bad feeling, Uncle Charlie. I'd try to talk you into postponing or changing the location, but you're as stubborn as the rest of us. You wear the vest, or I'm going to call Aunt Zoey, though. And you better have Rick go tell them to get more cops out here."

"You fight dirty," Charlie complained as he shrugged out of his suit coat and began unbuttoning his shirt preparing to put the vest on underneath. 

"I'm a Lyman," Sara declared. "You expected anything else?"


	11. Deja Vu

Deja Vu

Rick Williams, Charlie Young's assistant, called the waiting reporters to the podium to begin the press conference. Sara trailed along behind the other reporters keeping at the back of the crowd. Jake glared when she held him back with her but was ignored. Curious tourists, many of whom recognized Charlie Young from other high profile cases, joined the gathering crowd in front of the podium. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a brief statement, and then I'll take your questions," Charlie began. "Four months ago, Jasmine and Mark Genaro went out for a quiet dinner alone leaving their two young children with Jasmine's parents for the evening. It was their seventh wedding anniversary, and Mark had arranged a special evening for just the two of them to celebrate..."

Sara could feel the tension gathering behind her where the white supremacists had gathered to listen. Out of the corner of her eye, Sara watched the four cops pacing the perimeter of the courtyard. They seemed oblivious to the press conference underway. "When he starts taking questions, if no one else asks what other attorneys will be involved in the case, you ask it. Then follow that up with how he and Toby feel about bringing suit against West Virginia White Pride considering the history," Sara ordered. "That will get others asking about the shooting. Then get back to the current crime. How are the Genaro children dealing with their loss? What do you hope to accomplish?" Sara said before turning away.

"Where are you going?" Jake hissed nervously.

"To talk to the cops," she whispered back. "You'll do fine, Jake." Sara wandered over to the cops all the while watching the skinheads out of the corner of her eye. "Hi," she greeted the uniformed pair who nodded in return.

"Can we help you, Miss?" the younger one asked as his partner ignored her.

"Yeah, why are there only four of you here?" she asked pulling a notepad from the back pocket of her jeans. 

"Excuse me?" he asked, taken aback by the question.

"Why are there only four of you here?" she repeated.

"You think four cops can't handle a bunch of reporters at some press conference?" the older cop with the name 'Jackson' on his uniform smirked.

Sara sighed. "You have no clue do you?"

"Why don't you tell us what we're missing," Officer Jackson asked her condescendingly.

"Sure," Sara said with a smirk of her own. "That's Charlie Young up there at the podium. You know who he is, right?"

"He's the one who sued the state of Tennessee for recognition of same sex marriages," the younger cop, Marcus, answered.

"And won," Sara told him. "Thirty two years ago next month, three members of the West Virginia White Pride opened fire on a crowd here at the Newseum..."

"Where the President was shot. Yeah, so?" Jackson asked.

"So they were shooting at Mr. Young because he was dating the President's daughter. Whom he has since married, by the way," Sara informed them pointing back towards the podium.

"That was over thirty years ago," Marcus protested.

"And right now, he's over there announcing that he's suing that same group, West Virginia White Pride, for wrongful death on behalf of the Genaro kids," Sara told them. "Care to take a guess what group those people probably belong to?" she asked pointing to the skinheads milling around at the edge of the crowd. Even from a distance they could see how agitated that particular group was getting.

"Shit!" Jackson hissed keying his radio headset. "Get me the watch commander! Marcus, go wander over and look intimidating."

It was too late though as the skinhead's anger reached critical mass. The group began moving forward towards the reporters and tourists in front of the podium who, unfortunately, were facing the wrong direction. Sara quickly realized there was a small bit of luck on their side when the first rock connected with the back of the CNN correspondent. Unlike the Presidential Town Hall meeting decades ago, Charlie Young's press conference hadn't been announced more than a day ahead of time. Thirty-two years go, three teenagers had had time to plan and come prepared with guns. Today, there were more white supremacists present, but they hadn't known about the press conference. So their choice of weapons was limited to rocks and whatever other debris they could pick up off the ground. Sara wasn't naive enough to believe that the lack of guns would mean no one would be seriously hurt, but hopefully everyone would come out alive. She ran forward and grabbed Jake by the back of his collar pulling him along with her as she raced towards the ultimate object of the mob's anger, Charlie Young. 

"Hey!" Jake protested jerking free of her hold only to have Sara grab him by the arm and keep pulling.

"Come on!" she screamed as a rock connected with her shoulder blade making her stumble. "We've gotta get Charlie and Rick and get the hell outta here." Sara pulled Jake down into a running crouch as they made their way quickly up the stairs towards the podium. "Give me the car keys," she ordered him. Finally letting go her hold as she reached the prone form of Charlie Young who lay unconscious in a pool of blood from a head wound. 

"I can drive!" Jake shouted at her over the screams of the panicked crowd. Most of the reporters had been in riots before and had quickly scattered, but the tourists continued to panic as the barrage of rocks and debris continued.

"Yeah, but I can't carry Charlie!" she screamed back as she hauled the unconscious man into a sitting position. "Get him over your shoulder in a fireman's carry," she ordered helping Jake do just that. Sara then turned to grab Rick's arm dragging him with them towards the car. Reaching the car she shoved Rick around the side where he managed to dive into the passenger seat. Sara and Jake then shoved Charlie into the car. Jake climbed into the back seat with the unconscious man, and Sara ran around the other side of the car. As she shut the door behind her the first of the skinheads reached the car. The angry young man slammed the rock he was holding into the side window causing it to crack but not shatter. Sara reached into the purse she'd thrown onto the seat beside her, pulling out a Glock semi-automatic. She pointed it out the window at the man trying to break in who immediately backed away. At the same time she awkwardly used her left hand to turn the key in the ignition and put the car in gear. Honking once in warning, Sara put her foot on the gas and sped away from the press conference turned riot.

"Where are we going?" asked Rick holding a handkerchief to his own bleeding forehead.

"GW," Sara announced. "Uncle Charlie looks pretty bad."


	12. Someone's Going to Emergency

Someone's Going to Emergency

In the office of the Secretary of State, a small group of people had gathered to watch the press conference taking place in Rosslyn, Virginia. Senator Lyman had cancelled her committee meeting to be able to watch with her husband. Billy Seaborn, in his new role as her assistant, had been forced to make the calls and faced the wrath of several irate Republican Senators, but Donna was the committee chairman so there was really nothing they could do about it. The Democrats were no less unhappy, but they were also unwilling to cross what insiders called the Bartlet family dynasty. 

Josh sat next to his wife on the couch playing with the ornate handle of the cane Abby Bartlet had given him three years ago when he was forced to start using one occasionally. As he got older the weakened muscles on the right side of his body rebelled at the long hours he spent sitting all day. Donna continued to force him to do his exercises, but the last few years even that wasn't enough to keep the pain at bay all the time. So now he occasionally used the cane. It was the same one Jed Bartlet had used the last six years of his life after suffering a minor stroke and had been a gift to him from Leo McGarry. People in DC had quickly realized that when Secretary Lyman came to work using his cane, it was best to run, not walk, in the other direction. 

"There's Sara," Donna commented as they watched their youngest daughter approach Charlie before the press conference carrying a duffel bag.

"Danny must have sent her to cover it," Josh mumbled. He had returned to the Newseum on a handful of occasions over the years, and each time the memories remained as fresh as if the shooting had happened just yesterday. Just seeing it on the news was enough to trigger the eerie feeling of someone walking over his grave. 

They watched as Charlie and Sara had an animated discussion back in the shadows of the building and saw Charlie pull the vest from the bag. The CNN commentators had identified Sara and were discussing why she would feel the need to get him to wear a vest. 

"Well I'm glad someone thought to make him wear one," Deena said watching her brother reluctantly don the vest. "I don't see any Butterfields," she worried.

"It's just a press conference. I'm sure it will be fine," Donna tried to reassure the younger woman, but there was no denying that all three of them were uncomfortable with Charlie's choice of location. Of the group sitting in the room, only the three of them had first hand experience of the events at Rosslyn although Billy had heard about it all his life from the rest of the family. They watched as Rick called the gaggle to order and Charlie began to speak. When the first rocks were thrown a few minutes later, all four rushed out of the office without saying a word. 

As Josh struggled to keep up with the others as they ran to the SUV in its reserved place in the parking garage, he shouted, "Donna, you have the cell?"

"What?" she asked over her shoulder slowing a little for Josh to keep pace with his slower gait. "Yes. Come on, Josh! We have to get there!"

"Get where?" screamed Deena. "The Newseum will be a zoo."

"Sara," Josh gasped as he slid behind the wheel. "Sara will have her cell. Call Sara!"

Donna hastily hit the speed dial number. "Sara!" she yelled as her youngest child answered the phone. "Are you...ok....GW," she told Josh who quickly backed the SUV out of its parking space. "Ok, Sara. We're on our way. She got Charlie and Rick out of there. They're both hurt. Charlie's unconscious. She's driving them to GW."

"Why did you hang up?" Deena demanded angrily from her position in the back seat. 

"Sara had to call 911," Donna explained reassuringly. "It's going to be alright, Deena. He got hit in the head with something...it's probably just a concussion."

"Call Zoey," Josh ordered as he navigated the crowded DC streets at breakneck speed. 

"Zoey!" Deena exclaimed pulling out her own cell phone. "Oh my god! She's in town! She and Abby came with Charlie. They were going to visit Jodi and the baby."

"Was Sara hurt?" Billy asked.

"She didn't say. Oh God, I can't believe this is happening again," Donna moaned.

Josh took one hand off the wheel to squeeze her hand. "It's going to be alright, Donna. There were no guns this time. No one was shot," he reminded her. "It's going to be fine." But even he couldn't tell if he was reassuring his wife or himself. The rest of the drive to the hospital was spent in silence except for the occasional gasp as Josh took turns without slowing down nearly rolling the big SUV several times. When they reached the parking lot Josh threw the vehicle into park abandoning it to whatever fate hospital security had in store as he followed Donna and the others into the emergency room.

"Screw hospital policy! You find me someone who can tell me how my brother is right now," Deena was screaming at the clerk at the admitting desk.

"Where's Sara?" Josh asked as he reached them. "Sara Lyman...she brought Charlie Young here from the riot at Rosslyn."

"As I was telling Ms. Barnes, I don't have any information on those patients. The doctors are still with them."

"Do you know who I am?" Josh demanded.

"No, sir" she said. "It doesn't matter to me what your name is...."

"Good," Josh told her. "Cause I wasn't gonna give you my name. I was gonna give you my job title. I'm the Secretary of State, and my daughter and one of my best friends, Charlie Young, are somewhere in this emergency room. Now you find out what's going on, or I'm going to come down on you like the wrath of God." 

"Dad..." he heard Sara call from behind him. Josh turned towards the sound of his daughter's voice intent on making sure she was alright only to see Billy Seaborn beat him to it.

"Damnit, Sara!" Billy admonished as he wrapped his arms around her. "If you don't stop scaring me like this..."

"You'll do what, Seaborn?" she taunted. One look into Billy's eyes and Sara knew that was the wrong thing to say just then. Sara's eyes widen in shock as Billy's arms tightened holding her in place as his mouth descended towards hers.

"I told you," Donna murmured from her place next to Josh. 


	13. Blood Suckers and Blood Letters

Blood Suckers and Blood Letters

Josh watched his best friend's only child kissing his youngest daughter with abandon in the middle of Admissions at GW hospital with a sense of the inevitable. Donna wasn't the only one to tell him that Billy had feelings for his baby girl, but like any other father he hadn't wanted to acknowledge that someone's son had those kind of feelings for his daughter. Sara had been dating for quite some time of course, but somehow this time it was different. This was Sam and Ainsley's precious baby boy. 

"You were right," Josh murmured watching the younger couple kiss. Sara, he noticed, hadn't put up any protest. "Wonder when they'll come up for air?" It was of course, at that moment that the media descended on the hospital looking for information about those injured in the riot. 

"Sara! Billy!" Donna called breaking up their kiss. Sara approached her parents amazed at the kiss Billy had just given her. "Take it somewhere more private," her mother advised. "There's a lounge down the hall that I'm sure your father can get them to let us use while we wait."

"I'll talk to the press," Josh offered.

"NO!" the others protested together.

"Secret plan, Joshua" Donna reminded him.

"That was a long time ago!"

"Secret plan..." 

"Sir," the clerk called. "Dr. Fowler can talk to you now about Mr. Young's condition."

"Fine," Josh acquiesced. "You talk to the blood suckers, and I'll talk to the blood letters."

Donna stepped towards the gathering crowd of reporters to give a statement for the family. She couldn't tell them much, but it kept them at bay long enough for hospital security to arrive and move them out of the way. She then walked back down the hall to where the others were talking to the doctor.

"...still unconscious," she heard the doctor explain. "We've sent him up for a cat scan. We'll know more once that's been done."

"What are you looking for with the cat scan?" Deena asked.

"Bleeding on the brain....what we call a sub-dural hematoma," Dr. Fowler explained.

"And if there is bleeding?" Josh asked.

"We'll most likely want to operate to relieve the pressure, but we won't know anything until we complete the scan. Just wait here, and I or another doctor will come once we have more information."

"Thank you, Doctor" Donna mumbled. 

"Wait, Doctor!" Billy requested. "Sara has someone looked at you yet?"

"I'm fine," she replied.

"I'll take that for a 'no'," Dr. Fowler replied taking Sara by the elbow. "Come with me, and we'll take a quick look."

"I'm fine," she repeated.

"Go, Sara" Billy ordered worry plainly evident in his voice. Sara shut her mouth on whatever protest she was about to make and allowed the doctor to lead her towards an examination room.

Donna studied the young man she'd known since his birth in this very hospital. Donna remembered how close they'd come to tragedy that night as Ainsley had struggled to bring her son into the world. After more than a day in labor the doctors had finally decided to perform a caesarean section. Ainsley had fought the necessity until the very end, and it had finally taken Abby Bartlet to convince her to let the doctors perform the surgery. When she'd woken after the surgery Sam had been forced to tell her that they wouldn't be able to have more children. The doctors had managed to deliver Billy safely, but Ainsley had continued to bleed. To save her life, they'd performed an hysterectomy. She had seemed to take it well at first, but weeks later when Donna and CJ had dropped in to visit she'd lashed out at Donna whose second pregnancy was just beginning to show. 

"Go away!" Ainsley had cried.

"Ainsley, what's wrong?" CJ had asked as Donna stood in shock on the Seaborn's doorstep.

"I...I..." Ainsley hadn't been able to continue but the look she'd given Donna's swelling middle had been enough of a clue for the other woman.

"Because Donna's pregnant?" CJ had asked leading Ainsley gently back into the house with Donna close behind. "Ainsley, do you realize how jealous I am of you? You have Billy, and no matter what Toby and I put ourselves through I can't get pregnant. I don't mean to sound callous, but be grateful for what you have, honey. You have a wonderful, beautiful baby boy."

Ainsley had continued to cry though. 

"I'm jealous," Donna had suddenly admitted trying another tact.

"Jealous?" Ainsley asked incredulously.

"Jealous....no more PMS, no more cramps..." Donna had told her.

"No maxi pads, no more tampons, no more bloating..." CJ had added getting into the spirit.

"And best of all....spontaneous sex whenever you want it without worrying about birth control," Donna had said. "No more pills, no more condoms, diaphragms, spermicide...No counting days. Sex whenever you feel like it."

CJ and Donna had both sighed dramatically then causing a tiny giggle to escape their friend. The rest of the visit had gone well. Weeks later Ainsley admitted to her friends as she blushed that they had reason to be jealous. The three women had laughed so hard they'd drawn attention from the other customers in the restaurant where they were eating.

At first, Sam and Ainsley had gone overboard protecting their son from all of life's hurts. They had both been sheltered children, but Billy was being smothered by their overwhelming concern. One visit from Grandma Abby had mostly cured them of that though. Billy had joined the Lyman children and later the Ziegler children as well, in summer visits to Grandma and Grandpa Bartlet's Manchester farm, and whatever over-protectiveness his parents continued to display was balanced by the freedom he experienced during those summer weeks.

Donna's musing were interrupted when she heard her name being called by a familiar voice and looked up to see Zoey Bartlet-Young enter the room.

"How is he?" she demanded. 


	14. With a Patient

With a Patient

There had been no need to call Zoey and Abby though. They too had been watching the press conference sitting in the living room of Jodi and Matt's home. Matt's parents had been flabbergasted when the Secret Service had appeared at the front door, but Matt had grown used to the visits from the former First Lady since his marriage. He greeted the members of Abigail Bartlet's detail as he opened the door and ushered them in to perform their security sweep.

"Who are they?" Bart Di Gerlando asked as he nodded towards Matt's parents.

"My parents," Matt replied. "They were vetted for the wedding."

Bart nodded then spoke into his microphone, "It's clear."

"Jodi, Matt" the elderly woman greeted them as she was helped into the house by an agent on one side and her youngest daughter on the other.

"Grandma! Zoey!" Jodi cried coming forward to hug each woman in turn. "Come to see your great-grandson?"

"Of course," Abby replied taking the baby from his mother. "You didn't think I'd wait forever to come see him? Hello, Jed" Abby whispered to the baby who opened his eyes and blinked at her. She laughed in delight. "Yeah...you do have their spirit, don't you, Jed?" The baby waved his arms at her in response causing those in the room who remembered Jed Bartlet and Leo McGarry to laugh. Even Matthew and Nora smiled at their grandson's antics.

"We came down with Charlie. So while he's doing that thing we thought we'd come see you," Zoey told them knowing they'd already been told about Charlie's lawsuit. 

They'd only been there a few minutes when Zoey asked Matt to turn the television to CNN so they could watch the press conference. When the first rock was thrown it was Abby Bartlet who took command of the situation ordering her detail to take them to GW. Zoey allowed herself to be led out to the SUV in shock. 

"You should stay here, Jodi" Abby said.

"No, we're going," Jodi told her leaving no room for argument just as Matt reappeared in the living room with baby Jed's car seat in one hand and a hastily packed diaper bag in the other.

"Leave the baby with us, Matt" his father ordered. "You don't want to expose him to all the germs floating around the hospital."

Matt thanked his father while Jodi hastily scribbled cell phone numbers onto a pad of paper before rushing out the door. When they arrived at GW they were all very glad to have the Secret Service agents along to help them run the gauntlet of press that were already camped outside the hospital. It didn't take them long to find the others waiting inside a lounge with hospital security along with Secretary Lyman's security detail standing guard outside. Zoey entered the room with Jodi while Matt helped Abby to the nurse's station. After finding out where Dr. Fowler was examining Sara, Abby led her entourage to the examination room.

"Wait outside."

"Ma'am!" Agent Di Gerlando protested.

"Bart, you've been with me long enough to know I don't allow male agents in the room when I have a female patient," Abby told him before pushing the door open leaving them standing in the hall. "Dr. Fowler?"

"I'm with a patient..." he began only to be interrupted by Sara.

"Grandma Abby!" Sara exclaimed. "Tell him to leave me alone. I'm fine."

"Is she fine, Doctor?" Abby asked with a gentle smirk letting Dr. Fowler know that she was on his side.

"Nothing's broken...nothing new at least."

"Nothing new?"

"I broke a few ribs in China," Sara admitted. "I just added a few new bruises from this riot."

"Yes, your mother mentioned something about three broken ribs," Abby replied.

"Doctor?" a nurse asked poking her head into the room. "Mr. Young is waking up."


	15. Lion Cub

Lion Cub

"Lion Cub, this is the tower. Call the ball." 

"Roger, Tower. Lion Cub has the ball," Lt. j.g. Leo Young replied into the microphone built into his flight helmet. For the next thirty seconds all of Leo's concentration was on the flight deck approaching his aircraft at startling speed. Carrier landings were always dangerous, but this landing was taking place at 3 am in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Night landings were worse, much worse, but at least it was a clear night. The phosphorescent algae churned up in the Nimitz's wake shone like a giant neon sign pointing the way home to the weary officers. This was his first tour aboard a carrier after completing his training. 

The tension between India and her neighbor had been on the rise for the past few months, and so Nimitz and her support ships had been dispatched to the Indian Ocean as a show of force. Tensions were running high in the battle group as they placed themselves between the powder keg and a lit fuse. One mistake, they knew, and the region would ignite.

Young and his RIO, Lt. j.g. Jack "Whiskey" Richards, felt themselves be thrown forward as their aircraft caught the first of the four trap-lines on the deck of the carrier.

"Nice landing, Lion Cub" the CAG told him over the radio. "Get cleaned up then see me for debriefing."

An hour later in the Briefing room, Young and the other 3 pilots along with their RIO's had just finished giving their reports. 

"Very well. Dismissed," Captain Linton told them. "Let's go play some poker. I wanna win some of my money back from you, Cub." It was no secret that Lt. Young was on the fast track to promotion. He had entered the academy a semester early and excelled in all his classes earning him a top billet upon graduation. Young had always shown a preference for flight training. He had, in fact, entered the Naval Academy with a pilot's license already. One of his instructors, a former pilot himself, had given Cadet Young the moniker 'Lion Cub' after glancing at his file, labelled "Young, Leo", and the name had stuck. 

"Oh, I don't think so, CAG" replied Young. "I had some very good teachers."

"Oh?" asked Richards. "And just who would that be?" Everyone was curious about Lt. Young, even his RIO. He got along well with everyone, but he never spoke of his family or friends before the Academy causing many of his fellow officers to wonder.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Whiskey."

"Try us," offered Captain Linton.

"After the game. I don't want to scare you all off, after all," Leo smirked.

The rest of the officers guffawed as they entered the lounge where the officers congregated when off-duty. 

"That sounded like a challenge, Cub. Was that a challenge?" asked Lt. Allison "Raggidy Ann" Jennings who served as Leo's wingman.

"Put your money where your mouth is, Cub!" crowed Lt. David "Scissors" Stanley as he settled into his chair around the table.

The game had been underway for more than an hour when another officer turned the channel on the television and CNN began playing in the background.

"....recapping the major story for the day. A riot broke out at the Newseum in Rosslyn, Virginia today at a press conference...."

Leo Young's face went pale as what he'd just heard on the television penetrated his mind and his cards fell from his suddenly lax hands.

"You folding, Cub?" asked Scissors, but Leo didn't respond. He had slowly gotten up from the table and walked towards the television. The others around the table looked at each other, not sure what was going on until the officer holding the television's remote lifted it towards the screen.

"Don't you dare change that channel!" barked Leo.

"What's going on, Cub?" Linton asked as he approached the younger man. 

"My dad called that press conference at the Newseum today, sir" Leo told him.

"You think he was in that?" Linton asked pointing to the screen where the commentators had now been reduced to discussing the history of the Newseum to fill in the time. Leo was about to answer when CNN began once again to run the footage taken earlier. All attention in the room was focused on the screen as the other officers became silent understanding that Leo was searching the screen for signs of his father. They saw a young woman approach the elder Young before the conference. 

"She's a nice piece," Whiskey admired. 

"Watch it, Whiskey!" Young ordered. "That's my cousin you're talking about." 

"At least he was wearing a vest," Jennings consoled him. 

"He was wearing Sara's vest though," Leo replied. "What's Sara wearing? Hell, she attracts trouble like a magnet." 

Linton put his hand on the younger man's shoulder as they listened to the CNN commentator's remarks. 

"We have just acquired an amateur video shot by a tourist during the riot," the commentator said as the video began to play. "Here you can see Mr. Young being hit in the head with a rock or other piece of debris....and there is Sara Lyman again with another man, who we believe is Jake Carruthers, another reporter for the Washington Post." The officers in the lounge watched the unsteady camera footage as it followed the progress of Sara and the other two men to the car. 

"What the hell?" Scissors said watching the hasty retreat of the skinhead trying to break into the car. 

Leo allowed himself a chuckle realizing what had probably caused the skinhead to run. "Sara carries a Glock when she's in the States, and she's not afraid to use it." He turned away from the television towards the telephone mounted to the wall. "I need to borrow someone's phone card," he asked. 

"Use mine, son" Linton told the young man handing the card that allowed crew members to call ship to shore. The amount of time each crew member was allotted for the month was small, so Leo was very grateful for the Captain's generosity. 

"Thank you, sir." Leo told him as he dialed the number for Sara's cell phone knowing every reporter in the world would be calling his mother. "Sara!" he said when she answered. "How's dad?" 

"He's going to be okay, Leo. Your mom and Grandma Abby are with him now. He's got a severe concussion and a slight case of shock from the blood loss. The doctors are going to keep him overnight and let him go in the morning." 

"Thank God!" Leo murmured as he allowed himself to rest his head on the bulkhead. "Are you alright Sara? I saw on CNN that you got hit too." 

"I'm fine, Leo" she assured him. 

"Tell that kid Jake that I owe the both of you a steak dinner the next time I'm on leave," Leo ordered. "Let them know I called, and tell them I'll call tomorrow to check on Dad." He hung up the phone and turned to thank Linton to find everyone in the room staring at him waiting to hear his news. "My dad's alright. He's got a concussion and slight shock from the blood loss." The room erupted in cheers for the safety of Lt. Young's father. "Let's play poker!" Leo ordered as he made his way back to the table. "I'm feeling **_damned_** lucky tonight." 

"Young..." Linton began. 

"Yes, sir." 

"If your father is Charlie Young, that would make your mother...." 

"Zoey Bartlet-Young." 

"I think I know who taught you to play poker, Lieutenant, and I fold." 

"Oh?" asked Jennings who was the only one other than Young to be ahead in the game. "Who?" 

"His grandfather...President Josiah Bartlet." 

"And a few others in the family. They played poker in Grandpa Leo's office pretty often when there was a late vote in Congress." 

"Fold." 

"Fold." 

"Fold." 

Leo "Lion Cub" Young just laughed as he reached into the center of the table and collected his winnings. 


	16. Family by Trial and Fire

Family by Trial and Fire

In a hotel room in New York, Marc Castillo sat opposite Penny Ziegler who has agreed to a rare interview. The singer was infamous among journalists for the rare number of interviews she would grant. Many believed that part of the reason for this was the woman watching from the corner like a lioness guarding her cub. CJ Ziegler had been her daughter's manager from the beginning of her career at the age of eighteen when she'd come seemingly out of nowhere to dominate the Nashville music scene.

"When did you first decide you wanted a career in music?" he asked.

Penny hesitated for a moment then glanced at her mother. "It was about two months after Nate and I came to live with Mom and Dad. Nate hadn't spoken since our parents died. I guess Dad somehow came up with the idea that taking Nate out to Cape Canaveral might help get him talking again. So he arranged a trip out there to visit Uncle David. Kate and I didn't want to go watch some rocket launch so Mom took us to visit LA at the same time."

"What happened on the trip?" Castillo asked.

"Mom arranged for a visit to a recording studio. The artist who had booked it had finished earlier so it was empty. We were allowed into the booth. I loved it!" Penny admitted. "Before we left that day, I had an offer for a contract, but Mom turned it down. I was so mad, but we made a deal. If I finished high school, she'd help me get a career in music."

"Did you think she could do it?"

"You do know who my parents are right?" Penny asked with a laugh. "Of course I knew she could do it!" 

"What was your mother's job at the time?" Castillo asked.

"She was the spokeswoman for the Southern Poverty Law Center and also taught a few college classes in Communications. About two years after we made that deal some kids in one of her classes asked her to help them promote their band. She thought of it as practice for helping me. Six months after agreeing to help them she was their manager full time."

"What was the band?" the interviewer asked though he knew the answer.

"Blast," Penny replied naming one of the hottest rock bands of the time. They continued to release albums and tour even now, twenty years later. Out of the corner of her eye Penny saw her mother startle and reach for the cell phone in her pocket.

"You are married to Blast's youngest member, Jill Seyfert. Yours was the first legally recognized same sex marriage in Tennessee?" Marc asked though like his other questions it wasn't really a question.

"Yes," Penny replied then explained. "My uncle, Charlie Young, took the case to get our marriage recognized by the state. Jill and I wanted to have kids, and after having experienced the foster care system it was very important to me to make sure that if Jill or I died that there would be no question about our children's custody. There were, of course, other issues that I'm sure everyone is aware of by now. Taxes, being able to make legal decisions for each other, etcetera."

"And do you have children now?"

Penny smiled as she nodded. "We've adopted three children."

"None of your children are yours or Jill's biologically then?" Castillo asked.

"No. Mom and Dad gave my siblings and I such a great gift when they adopted us. Jill and I decided to pass that gift on," she replied with a smile towards her mother realizing only then that CJ's face had gone white. "Mom?" Penny asked in alarm as she scrambled to catch the older woman as she slumped towards the ground. "Mom! What's wrong? What's going on?" she asked before taking the phone from her mother's limp hand. "Who is this? What's going on?" she asked.

"Penny!" Kate's voice cried from the slim cell phone. "Turn on CNN! Uncle Charlie's press conference turned into a riot. Dad's pretty much in a state of shock. Noah isn't much better. Nate's calling to get us an earlier flight."

"CNN!" Penny snapped at the reporter as she helped her mother into a chair. The cameraman continued to film as CJ and Penny sat vigil waiting for word on Charlie's condition. Castillo was already picturing where he was going to put his Emmy for this interview. CJ allowed him to ask her questions about the original Newseum shooting and its aftermath while her daughter comforted her. Castillo wondered if she even realized she was answering his questions or if like riding a bicycle she had fallen into old habits in a time of crisis. When the call came that Charlie was alright Penny sent her mother into one of the suite's two bedrooms to rest. CJ however was having none of that. She was going to arrange for an early flight to DC. Penny told her to book two seats and that they'd leave after she finished the interview.

"First, let me say thank you for letting me sit with you and ask questions these last two hours."

"Thank you for not taking advantage of it," Penny replied.

"You have an unusual extended family," Castillo remarked. "Would you tell our viewers about them?" 

"You mean the Bartlet dynasty?" Penny asked with a gentle smirk. "President Bartlet and his wife had three daughters born to them. Like my parents they adopted a much larger family, but Grandpa Jed gathered his adopted children to him as adults. Dad likes to call us family by choice instead of family by blood. Aunt Donna has a different name for it..."

"What's that?" Castillo asked quietly.

"Family by trial and fire," replied Penny. "Rosslyn tempered the steel in their souls, and the hearings welded them together as a family." Penny's attention was drawn back to the television in the background where CNN was interviewing the leader of the West Virginia White Pride.

"....make them think twice about filing suit against our organization!" 

Tears rolled down her cheeks as Penny was unable to control the laughter that bubbled up in her.

Castillo glanced towards the television. "Something funny about his statement?" he asked.

"We'll be down at the courthouse before it opens tomorrow filing that suit. They accomplished nothing today but a strengthening of resolve. Now, I'm sorry to say it, but if Mom and I are going to make that flight, we need to leave soon," Penny told him as she stood and began to remove her microphone.

"We will?" Castillo asked.

Penny turned back to the reporter. "Family forged by trial and fire, Mr. Castillo," she reminded him. "You wound one of us, we all bleed. You attack one of us, you're going to be fighting all of us." 


	17. With This Ring

Chapter 18 - With This Ring

Once they knew Charlie was going to be okay, Matt and Jodi decided to return home. Jodi knew her son would need to nurse soon and was anxious to return to him. By the time they left the hospital plans were already being made for that evening. Matt had volunteered to go to the airport to begin collecting those flying in. Realizing the limitations of her usefulness in legal matters, Penny had decided to help by using what her God-given talent (and her mother's business acumen) had given her. Money. She arranged for hotel rooms for the entire family descending on Virginia plus the others from the SPLC. 

Jodi and Matt entered their home greeted by the hungry wails of their son and a look of censure from Nora Gaerte. Jodi took the baby and excused herself to the quiet privacy of the nursery giving her husband an apologetic look as she left him to explain to his parents what was going on. She listened from the other room as he told them Charlie would be alright and that he needed to go to the airport.

"Why?" asked Matthew.

"The Clan is gathering," Matt said then had to explain. "The rest of Jodi's extended family is flying in. I volunteered to shuttle people out from the airport."

"They can't take a cab?" Nora complained.

"You need any help, Matt?" his father asked ignoring his wife's rudeness.

"Jodi needs to rest. So she's going to stay here and take a nap. We brought her parent's SUV back with us. If you can follow me out to Dulles in it, we should be able to get the first arrivals in one trip and take them over to the hospital. Joe's landing at National from Chicago about the same time as the group at Dulles, but Abby harassed Bart into going to get him."

"What do you need me to do?" Nora asked reluctantly.

"Take care of Jed so Jodi can get some sleep. Tonight we're going over to the hotel where everyone's staying. Penny's buying dinner, and everyone's going to just spend some time catching up before we start planning strategy for the lawsuit."

"You're a reporter, Matt. Are you sure you shouldn't stay out of it?"

Matt chuckled. "My boss is coming too, Dad. He's part of the Barlet clan as well. We'll keep ourselves out of the reporting about the lawsuit. Danny will probably do some editorials, but they'll put disclaimers on everything anyway stating that Danny, Sara, and I work at the Post and what our relationship to the lawsuit is."

Matt and his father were exhausted by the time they returned home that afternoon. Matthew was no longer used to the frantic pace of a crisis as he had once been as a member of the Chicago Fire Department. As a reporter, Matt was used to stress and long hours. His instincts were telling him to be prepared for a lot of long hours in the coming weeks. He and his father gladly gave up the driver's seats in the two vehicles to their wives for the drive to the hotel. An hour later they arrived at the hotel to find that reporters and Penny's fans were milling around outside. Matthew and Nora followed close to the younger couple as they pushed through the gathering crowd. 

"Quite a crowd out here isn't it?" Joe commented as he helped clear a path through the reporters shouting questions at Congresswoman Gaerte. Matt and Jodi leaned protectively over Jed's carrier shielding him from the cameras and lights. "Back off!" barked Joe in the authoritative voice he learned from Ron Butterfield and later perfected at Quantico.

"Joe!" Mike McGarry called to him across the lobby then quickly jogged over to them. "Dee's looking for you."

"Where is she?" Joe asked. He had been hoping to put this confrontation off for a little while longer. Joe was not a man who enjoyed crawling, but he knew his conversation with Dee would involve a great deal of it. Two months ago when he had accepted the assignment to the Chicago office, he hadn't even discussed it with Dee. Mary Delores "Dee" McGarry was her father's daughter and didn't take kindly to her fiancée making decisions for both of them. He hadn't even thought about what a move to Chicago would mean to her residency. It would be at least a year before she could get into a residency program with a Chicago hospital. A year of wasted time. After their last volcanic fight, Dee had returned his ring to him. Joe had had a lot of time to think about what a stupid thing he'd done in the last two months assigned to surveillance on a corruption case. He could feel the warm metal of the ring resting over his heart suspended from the chain around his neck. He had taken to wearing it as some sort of talisman.

"Dee?" he asked entering CJ and Toby Ziegler's room where Mike had told him he would find Dee. "Can we talk?" Joe asked before she could respond.

Dee nodded rising from her seat on the bed where she'd been talking with her mother, Margaret, and her aunt. She led him into the connecting room where Penny sat talking on the phone, but when she saw them enter the room she quickly ended her call and excused herself saying she wanted to catch up with Dee's mother.

"Let me speak first, Dee. Please?" Joe asked as soon as the door had shut.

"Joe..."

"Please? I was wrong, Dee. I shouldn't have decided for both of us. I didn't even thing about what my being assigned to Chicago would mean to your residency. I was stupid. Let me fix it?" Joe asked. "I've talked to the AD in Chicago and explained the situation. I can have a transfer back to DC."

"Oh Joe," Dee moaned. "You can't fix it that easy!"

"I can't fix it at all with us in two different states! I miss you, Reddee" he confessed coming forward to play with a strand of her long red hair. "I'm not going to let us end like this. Because I was a stupid inconsiderate jerk. We can work this out, Dee. Please."

"Joe, there's something you need to know," Dee told him. "Remember that last fight."

"You gave this back to me," Joe reminisced as he pulled the ring from around his neck.

Tears welled up in Dee's eyes upon seeing the ring he'd chosen for her. "We ended up in bed," she reminded him. "I'm pregnant, Joe." His mouth hung open like a fish as her words penetrated the fog in his brain. "Close your mouth, Special Agent Young" Dee ordered.

"The condom broke," he remembered. Dee, like her mother, was unable to take birth control pills because they made her ill. They had both been responsible for birth control throughout their relationship, but that night they'd used a condom. 

"History repeating itself," she admitted. 

It was no secret, in fact it was public knowledge, that her elder brother Michael Joseph McGarry had been the result of an accident between Leo McGarry and his longtime assistant Margaret Donnelly. Margaret had shown up at the hotel room Leo called home drunk from a New Year's Eve party held in the hotel's restaurant after her date ditched her. Leo had tucked her into his bed before taking a blanket and curling his tall frame up on the couch. Several hours later Margaret had appeared and led him back to bed saying there was no reason they couldn't as two adults share the bed. When morning came Leo had been guiltily contrite believing he'd taken advantage of her, but Margaret hadn't let him feed that guilt. She'd told him he would make it up to her by taking her out for a real date, and that night he had. Two months later when she realized she was pregnant, they were already committed to a relationship. Leo still worried about the age difference between them, but he wouldn't miss this second chance at fatherhood. They'd weathered the negative op ed pieces in the media. After all, Leo McGarry was hardly the first man to marry a much younger woman, and their obvious devotion to one another made even Mary Marsh go quiet after a few months. For eight years he'd been a wonderful father to Mike and Dee who had followed two years later until his unexpected death from a heart attack. Mike still had strong memories of their father while Dee's memories of him were mostly from family videos and stories. Her mother had remarried two years after her father's death, but Dee and Mike both adored their redheaded step-father. 

"I don't care how it happened. I'm happy. The thought of our baby growing inside of you...," he whispered. "Will you take this back, Dee?" Joe asked holding up the ring.

"I won't marry you for the baby, Joe."

"Not for the baby. For us. Would I still be carrying this around if I didn't still want to marry you?" he demanded. "I didn't know about the baby when I was begging you to give us a second chance a few minutes ago. I know its going to be rough. We're going to be parents before we're really ready for it, but no one in this family have ever run from something just because it will be hard. I want us to be a family, Dee. It'll be at least a month before I can get transferred back to DC."

"No," Dee told him. "You're not transferring back to DC."

"Damnit, Dee!" Joe shouted at her forgetting that her mother and their aunt were in the next room. "If you won't marry me. Fine! But I am transferring back to DC. I'm going to be a father to our baby."

"SHUT UP!" Dee shouted right back. "I'm going to finish out this semester then take a semester off. Maybe two so I can stay with the baby when it's young. By then I'll be able to get a residency in Chicago. I've still got two months left in this semester, so I won't be able to move out to you until then," she explained but Joe wasn't listening. He was busy returning his ring to its rightful place on her finger.

"Can we get married now?" he asked. "While everyone's here."

"Leo isn't here. Don't you want him to be your best man?" she asked.

"Somehow I think he'll forgive me," Joe told her. "We'll name the baby after him and your dad."

"No."

"We'll name him Jed then."

"We're not naming the baby after you either, Josiah Ronald Young! There are enough Josiah's and Leo's in this family already."

"How about Daniel then?" Joe asked.

"Pop'd like that," Dee agreed. "But what if it's a girl?"

"Danielle." 


	18. Dinner and Memories

Chapter 19 - Dinner and Memories

The entire Bartlet clan gathered around the large hotel conference table a few hours later. The younger less recognizable Bartlets had volunteered to go out and bring back food and now the table was laden with everything from Chinese to Italian and burgers to pizza.

Abby Bartlet stood and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "Since I'm the oldest old fart in the room, I guess I'm the one that gets to say something," she began then paused as everyone laughed. "I think we should have a moment of silence before we eat. Our guardian angels worked overtime today protecting Sara and Charlie, and I don't think they're going to get much rest anytime soon." Around the room everyone bowed their heads in silence. "Amen," Abby murmured a minute later as others around the room echoed her. "Joe and Dee have something they'd like to say."

"You groveled enough to win her back, Joe?" Josh teased the younger man.

"Yeah," he admitted. "And we want to get married while the clan is gathered here. On Saturday." Joe waited for the congratulations to die down before he continued. "We also wanted to let everyone in on our other good news..."

"I'm pregnant," Dee admitted with a blush. 

The congratulations were louder this time, and it was several minutes before the noise died down enough for anyone to be heard over everyone else. 

"Let's eat," Abby ordered. "We'll worry about the heavy legal stuff on a full stomach."

As often happens at family gatherings the younger people formed their own little groups as they ate while the older generation spoke of things that happened before they were born.

"Has anyone heard from Leo?" Jodi asked as she loaded her plate.

"He called me. I let him know his dad would be ok. He said he'd call tomorrow to check on him," Sara replied.

"I got an e-mail from him," Joe informed them. "Said that Dad's little accident interrupted his poker game, and that now that everyone on the Nimitz knows who he is, he's been banned from the games."

"Do you remember when Grandpa Jed got corralled into playing in that celebrity poker tournament?" asked Noah after the laughter had died down. "He somehow convinced ..."

"...the rest of us to play in it too," remembered Sam as he sat eating at the other end of the room. The former Bartlet staffers laughed at the memory totally unaware that thirty feet away their children were reminiscing about the same incident. 

Donna pointed at Sam as she also remembered the incident. "One of the commentators made some snarky remark about him being at a disadvantage because of the MS and the stroke," she said, "and he got that look. The one that..." 

"...meant you were in trouble, and he sat down with those two actors, that rapper, and Dad," recalled Jodi. "I remember Mom let us watch on TV. Grandpa Jed was..." 

"...playing like he usually did. Asking inane trivia questions as he went along. That rapper was so pissed at Jed," Abby remembered. "For a minute I thought someone in the detail was going to have to take another bullet for him." 

"I, of course, lost my shirt pretty quickly," Josh admitted. 

"He, Leo, and I were among the last five players," Toby proudly recalled. "Along with..." 

"...two professional gamblers," Mike continued the story. "Toby and Dad kept up the banter with Grandpa. The gamblers did their best to keep their minds on the game, but Grandpa just kept throwing out these trivia questions and..." 

"...Leo and I were teasing him and answering the questions. We were treating it as just another midnight game in Leo's office," Toby said. "Then..." 

"Grandpa pushed everything into the pot then asked another trivia question," Noah added. "Uncle Toby and Grandpa Leo folded immediately, but the gamblers figured Grandpa Jed was bluffing." 

"So they called it!" laughed Josh as he continued telling the story to Matthew and Nora at the other end of the room. "And Jed took the pot. After about five more hours of playing, they..." 

"...finally just declared Grandpa Jed the winner cause he was ahead. Although your dad was pretty close to bust," Jodi said pointing to Mike and Dee. "He wasn't really into winning the money though. He was just having a good time with his friends." 

"Dad's beard does give him an advantage," Nathan admitted. He'd more than once lost his allowance to his father in a weekend poker game with his uncles and cousins. 

Sara asked, "Remember when Grandpa Jed bribed us to help him..." 

"Wonder what they're laughing about?" Sam asked as they turned to look at their children gathered at the other end of the room. 

"My guess would be about how they helped Jed get you all to stop calling him 'Mr. President'," Abby told them. 

"He didn't!" Ainsley gasped. 

"Of course he did!" CJ laughed. "Jed was a sneaky bastard when he wanted to get his own way. I always had a feeling he was behind the kids calling him 'Grandpa President' and all those other weird things that summer." 

"He had you all convinced that you were going to warp your children's minds by calling him Mr. President," Toby laughed remembering the antics of his friend's children. "I bet he even got the twins in on it."

Zoey scoffed at the idea her children had been part of the scheme. "They could barely say 'Mama'," she said.

"You and Charlie left them with us while you were in classes, Honey. He had plenty of time to teach them to call him 'Pesden Papa'" Abby reminded her daughter. This time it was the older generation's turn to laugh as they remembered the family patriarch.

"To Jed Bartlet," Josh said raising his glass.

"And Leo McGarry," Abby added.

"The Real Thing, both of them" Sam said raising his glass as well.

Toby drained his glass then said as he stood up, "Okay its time to get to work."


	19. Logistics and Strategies

Chapter 20 - Logistics and Strategies

"So where do we start, Toby?" Sam asked.

Toby ran a hand across his bald head trying to figure out the answer to that question. Luckily he didn't have to.

"Two doors down on the right is conference room A. I had Robby set the computers up in there and network them to one of the laser printers," Margaret explained.

"Toby, you and the other lawyers can work out of there. Grab anyone you need," Donna continued. "Josh, CJ and Penny are going to be in charge of the overall media and political strategy involved in this thing. Noah, Kate, and Ainsley are in charge of the legal stuff. Sam and Toby, you start drafting statements for everyone who's going to need to make one tomorrow."

"Mike, Danny, Sara, Matt, and Joe are going to be our investigators," Margaret announced.

"What about the conflict of interest?" CJ asked clearly remembering years of arguments with her friend and former almost-lover. 

"The Washington Post is now your partner," Danny declared. "We get full access to the behind the scenes work on the lawsuit. You get our considerable investigative expertise and resources. We put a disclaimer on all articles related to the suit..."

"And get a very big scoop for the Post," Sara finished for him

Donna continued as if there'd been no interruption. "Everyone else pitch in where you can. Conference room B is also networked but with fewer computers and more phones. This room's going to stay the Commissary. John's going to keep us stocked up in here," she explained pointing to the embarrassed seventeen year old son of Charlie and Zoey Young. 

"Tech support for phones, pagers, computers, whatever is Gail and Robby," Margaret explained. "Donna, Deena, and I are going to be in charge of coordinating everything. If you need something, if you can't find a file, someone's taken your cell, you need something researched, come to one of us. Got it?"

As Sara headed for the door, she called back over her shoulder, "Come on, Detectives. I've got some leads for us to follow."

"Sara!" Noah called after her. "The files on..."

"I'm way beyond where you are in investigating these guys, Noah. Some of the things I know about these guys are going to shock the hell out of you."

"Like what?" Josh asked.

"I've got all their mailings from the last five years."

"How the hell..." Toby began to ask.

"I paid a bum off the street to join up so I could get their mailings," Sara admitted. "They get sent to a PO Box under his name. You'll find some of them quite interesting. The list of contributors in some of the newsletters is fascinating. Lots of off-shore corporations."

"We know that," Toby said.

"Do you know who's behind those corporations?" Danny asked.

"No," Sam admitted. "We've been trying for years to find out without any luck."

"I have some suspicions," Sara admitted. "When you guys start issuing subpoenas make sure you get those records."

"You don't need to tell us that Sara," Kate indignantly told her. "What are your suspicions?"

"I don't want to say just yet. Let's just follow the money. It was a good enough strategy to topple Capone, after all," Sara replied. "Mike and Joe can help us get conviction and arrest reports on them from the membership lists. Find out who has a history of violence."

"Talk about this later," Zoey ordered. "We have until 6 am to get everything done. We need the initial brief for the suit then subpoenas on every member, the headquarters, and anything else our 'detectives' can think up."

They didn't really need to have everything ready by morning. This would, in fact, just be the opening salvo, but their strategy was to hit hard initially to throw WVWP off-balance. This would also allow Toby and the other members of the SPLC to return to Alabama in a few weeks to work on the case instead of staying here in the DC area. The internet would allow them to stay in touch with Charlie easily. The younger lawyers, Kate and Noah included, worked through the night while the media strategists and writers were able to finally get some sleep just after one in the morning. The only time their work had been interrupted was when Penny and CJ's interview aired that night as a special. The family had been pleased with the publicity for the law suit, but wary of what it would mean for the next morning. 

Donna had called Ron Butterfield and turned him loose making security arrangements. He had arrived with his daughter Amanda who had been in charge of Butterfield Securities since her father retired five years ago. They had quickly gathered the various protective details together to plan strategy. An advance team had been sent to the courthouse to gather information and begin setting up a perimeter. There was no doubt in any of their minds that members of WVWP would be present at the courthouse in the morning. That was fine with Toby and the other lawyers. It would just make serving the subpoenas so much easier.

"Everybody that's going to the courthouse wears a vest," Ron ordered early that morning as they prepared to leave. He pointed to a large pile of kevlar vests and jackets sitting on one of the conferences tables. "No exceptions." In a matter of minutes everyone had the vests on under their clothes. Surprisingly no one objected, though last night there had been several arguments about certain members of the family staying behind. Dee, Abby, and Jodi had won those arguments though. Little Jed would stay behind with his Grandma Nora, but Matthew had decided to come along. Joe worried but knew he couldn't push Dee on this. Almost everyone had tried to keep Abby at the hotel, but no one had ever moved Abby unless she was willing. After begging with his superiors, Bart had managed to get a few more Secret Service agents out to help today. It wasn't just the former First Lady they would be protecting today, after all. Every protective agent there knew this was a security nightmare. There had been less than one day's preparation. 

"The strategy here is a show of force," Toby explained. "We're presenting a united front. If things go wrong get to the cars and do whatever the Butterfields and the other detail agents tell you. Hopefully all the coverage from yesterday will make it too hot for them to do anything more than shout." 

"Toby, as a motivational speaker, you suck," his wife told him.

"Sam, are you up for a good fight?" Toby asked with a spark in his eye.

"I believe I have one in me, Tobias" Sam replied as the memories shone bright in his eyes as well.

"Then let the good fight begin," CJ completed the ritual as she took her husband's hand.


	20. I will Bear Witness

Chapter 21 - I Will Bear Witness

Bart watched nervously from the passenger seat as their ragtag convoy of vehicles made its way towards the county courthouse.

"Relax," Mike McGarry told him as he turned the big SUV to follow the one in front of him.

"Relax?" Bart demanded. "You expect me to relax? I could only get my superiors to authorize another two agents to be out here today. This is a security nightmare. We've got the Secretary of State, a senator, a member of the House of Representatives, the lieutenant governor of New Hampshire, the governor of South Carolina, Penny Ziegler, and the infamous Charlie Young coming here today."

"Not to mention the former First Lady," Abigail Bartlet reminded him from her position in the back seat.

"Yes, ma'am" he replied blushing slightly at having leaving his protectee out of his recitation.

"We're going to have plenty of friends there," Mike assured him.

"What do you know that we don't, Michael?" Abby demanded.

"The Chief called me last night," Mike told them. "She put the word around." 

"She?" Bart asked. "I thought Dwayne Carter was Chief of DCPD."

"Chief Martinez," Mike told him as he turned the corner into the town square. "She retired last year." The sight that greeted them took Bart's breath away. A large contingent of skinheads had shown up to make trouble, but they had anticipated that happening. There were almost as many reporters as there were white supremacists. What so surprised the usually unflappable Secret Service agent though was the fact that the skinheads and reporters were outnumbered by perhaps three to one by men and women wearing black windbreakers with yellow lettering on the back. Yellow lettering that read things like 'DCPD', 'Secret Service', and 'FBI'. "They couldn't order extra agents out here," Mike told him with a grin. "But neither your superiors nor mine have any say about what their people do on their personal time. Charlie's mom was a DC police officer. We take care of our own."

"Let's go," Abby told the young men as her door was opened by one of the agents who had formed a protective ring around the vehicles. They were quickly joined by the rest of the extended Bartlet clan. 

"Chief Martinez," Toby greeted the older woman who approached him flanked by several others. "I thought you'd retired?" he asked with a smile.

"Mr. Ziegler," she returned his greeting. "I figured I'd come out here for old-times sake. See if this will be as entertaining as 'Big Block of Cheese Day' was." 

"Rhonda," CJ greeted the other woman who had briefly been her rival. After their meeting on 'Total Crackpot Day' Toby had briefly dated then Officer Sachs, but it hadn't taken Rhonda long to realize that Toby was in love with CJ even if he wouldn't acknowledge those feelings. Unlike Andi Wyatt, Rhonda had been able to let her romantic feelings for Toby die so that their friendship could flourish. It had been Rhonda who pushed Toby to tell CJ that he loved her. A fact that had made the two women fast friends instead of the bitter enemies that most people had expected. "How is Hector?" she asked. 

"Enjoying early retirement," Rhonda told her. "We're planning a trip out to California next month to visit our youngest at Berkeley."

"She's working on her Masters?" Donna asked as she walked with the other women into the court house. Once inside, there was really nothing for most of the family to do but wait. Charlie, Toby, and the other lawyers were quickly processing the paperwork that would set the lawsuit in motion. Last night it had been decided that Toby would make a statement on behalf of the SPLC concerning the lawsuit, and Josh would make a statement on behalf of the Bartlet clan about the WVWP and the family's feelings and involvement in the suit. 

When they exited the building the agents and off-duty police officers still held the crowd back from the courthouse steps where the everyone gathered behind Toby as he made his statement. It took Toby fifteen minutes to answer the questions thrown at him by the reporters before Josh could step forward to make his own statement to the press.

"First, I have to apologize to my speechwriters. I'm going to pull a Bartlet on them and ad lib," Josh said in a loud clear voice that could be heard over the shouted chants of the skinheads. "I am not officially part of this lawsuit. I am here to support the members of my family who are. There is no secret that we have personal reasons in wanting this group brought to justice. All our lives were changed forever more than three decades ago when members of the West Virginia White Pride opened fire on the President's entourage. They shot at us not because they didn't like how we were running the country or because of a law we'd passed or failed to pass. They shot at us because Zoey Bartlet was dating Charlie Young. Two teenagers were in love, and for that West Virginia White Pride decided they had to die." Josh paused as the flashes from various cameras blinded him. 

"Last night as we prepared to come here this morning, Toby Ziegler told me of a conversation he'd had with my son, Noah, earlier this week. Noah told Toby of his first memory. It is a day I remember as well. I remember my son sitting on my lap as he traced the scars from the shooting in Rosslyn. Noah was probably four at the time. He asked me how I'd gotten those scars, and I told him," Josh said as he felt Donna's hand slip into his own. Behind them Kate had taken Noah's hand in her own, and he squeezed it gratefully as a single tear slipped down his cheek. "I sat their explaining to my young son, my struggle to live because members of the West Virginia White Pride had shot me in the chest while trying to kill his Aunt Zoey and Uncle Charlie for being in love. As Toby recounted what my son had told him, I remembered my own earliest memory that was so strikingly similar to my son's. My first memory is of sitting on my own grandfather's lap tracing not scars but a tattoo. My first memory is of asking my grandfather what the numbers on his arm meant."

Josh paused to collect his thoughts. Drawing strength from his family arrayed around him, he continued, "Little more than a week ago, my wife, Donnatella, and I became grandparents for the first time. During his conversation with Toby, my son asked what his nephew's first memory would be. Would it be like his own? Like my own? Would his first memory be of the hate of racism or anti-Semitism? My family and I want to change this legacy of hate. When Jed sits on my lap and asks about the scars on my chest, what will I be able to tell him?" Josh asked. "Will I be able to tell him that things are better now? I don't know the answer to that question yet, but we are taking the first step to finding that answer."

"I once asked my grandfather why he thought he'd survived the camps," Josh said. "He told me, as many other survivors have since, that he survived to bear witness for those who didn't. Now, I will bear witness for Jasmine and Mark Genaro. I will bear witness for Celeste and Lauren Marcum," he said raising his voice to be heard over the screams of the enraged skinheads as he named the victims of another murder for which the West Virginia White Pride were suspected. It shocked the family that Josh knew of these other victims because he had always gone out of his way to remain ignorant of this group. "I will bear witness for Jack Baker and all the other victims of the West Virginia White Pride," he vowed before taking the steps of the court house two at a time towards the waiting vehicles. The rest of the family trailing behind.


	21. Getting Lucky

Chapter 22 - Getting Lucky

Margaret shrugged away the nose that was lovingly nuzzling her neck. "If you wanted to get lucky this morning, Concannon, you shouldn't have let me get so drunk last night," she mumbled into the pillow.

Danny didn't let her refusal deter him however. "Your daughter got married last night," he reminded her as he gently rubbed her back. "We were celebrating."

"Celebrating my pregnant daughter getting married," Margaret grumbled.

"Now you sound like our mothers," Danny retorted with a grin. The grin disappeared quickly though when she met his gaze. "You'll never convince me you regret being with Leo," he told her. From the serious expression on his face, Margaret could tell he was remembering the day long ago when he'd brought Mike home. The day that had started them on their path together. 

It had only been a few weeks after Leo's death. After the funeral the rest of the Bartlet clan had scattered to the winds. With Congress not in session, even Josh and Donna had left DC for their Connecticut home. Mike had taken the Metro to his Uncle Danny's office at the Post.

"Does your mother know where you are, Mike?" Danny had asked as he ushered the eight year old into his office, but Mike would only shrug in answer. "What's going on?" 

"There's this thing the scouts are doing..." Mike had mumbled so quietly Danny had needed to lean forward to hear him.

"What kind of thing?" Concannon had asked quietly in reply.

"A thing with our dads," the boy had replied as the tears had begun to flow. "Uncle Josh and uncle Sam aren't in DC, and Mom..."

"It's okay. How about I take you?" Danny had asked the boy unwilling to take more of his pride by making him ask. Mike had nodded as he'd wiped the tears from his eyes. "How's your mom?" Danny had been unprepared for the reaction he got as the floodgates opened on Mike's tears. "Hey!" He'd wrapped the distraught boy in his arms and listened as the jumbled words poured from his lips. After he'd calmed down, Danny had bundled Mike up and taken him home. Danny had been shocked at what he'd seen as he followed Mike into the McGarry home. Margaret was known to keep their home immaculately clean at all times, but Danny would never have guessed it from the sight that had greeted his eyes. Empty takeout containers had littered the coffee table in the living room near where a pile of newspapers lay strewn on the ground. Dee had been watching a program on television that Danny had no doubt she shouldn't have been watching. Danny had turned the television off immediately solving that problem. "Where's your mom?" he'd asked ignoring her protests.

"In bed," Dee had told him. 

After getting the two kids started on their homework, Danny had wandered back to the master bedroom almost afraid of what he'd find. He had signed a breath of relief to find Margaret clutching a pillow to her as she lay curled in a ball in the middle of the bed, still in her pajamas. "Well at least you haven't hit the booze," Danny had remarked loudly enough to wake the dozing woman on the bed. "What the hell are you doing to yourself, Margaret?"

"Leave me alone, Danny," she'd growled in response hiding her red swollen eyes in the pillow.

Danny had stood staring at her for several minutes unsure how to help his friend through her grief before finally turning away. He'd fixed the kids a real dinner than night instead of letting them order takeout on their mother's credit card as they had apparently been doing since the rest of the family had left the previous week. Margaret, still in her pajamas, had come out of the bedroom briefly to fix herself a plate. Danny had stayed that night until both children were in bed and promised them he'd be back the next morning. 

He'd let himself in early the next morning with the key he'd gotten from Mike. The two children had been eating a cold breakfast of cereal and juice when he'd entered the kitchen. There hadn't been time to make them anything else though before the school van had honked for them. After he'd seen the two McGarry children off at the door he'd made his way back to the bedroom where he'd found Margaret exactly as he'd left her the previous night.

"Get up, Margaret, or you'll be late for work," Danny told her in a firm voice as he pulled the comforter off the bed.

"I don't have a job," she'd grumbled as she made a blind grab for the missing covering. 

"You do now," he'd informed her. "You're my new assistant as of this morning."

"I don't _** need**_ a job," Margaret had told him still curled up in the bed she'd shared with Leo for almost ten years. It was true Leo had left her with more than enough money, but it had become obvious to Danny that she did need to work. She couldn't stay in that bedroom grieving for the rest of her life.

"Get up and get dressed. You're coming to work with me," Danny had ordered her leaving an unspoken threat hanging in the air.

"Or what?" Margaret had growled sure he was bluffing.

"Or I call the Sisterhood," he'd replied pulling out his trump card. He had known Margaret would hate for them to see her like that. 

Margaret had cracked open one eye to glare at him angrily. "That's blackmail," she'd told him.

"And damn good blackmail it is," he'd agreed cheerfully. "How do you think I got C.J. to date me?"

Margaret smiled now at the memory as she gazed at the man beside her. "No, I don't regret being with Leo," she agreed quietly before leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on his bearded cheek. "You know I don't regret being with you either?" she asked seeing the lingering jealousy and doubt in his eyes even after all this time.

"Yeah," Danny replied but couldn't quite convince Margaret that he really knew how much she loved him. 

"Go get the paper, love" she ordered as she rose from their bed and made her way towards the kitchen. "I'll get the coffee." This morning ritual had started that very morning as he'd read the Post to her through the bathroom door as she got dressed. Returning to their bed they settled next to each other with pillows propped behind their backs. "Read me your piece," Margaret commanded as she handed him his cup of coffee. 

Danny took a hurried sip of his coffee before sitting it on the nightstand, then began to read, "You've just declared war on the West Virginia White Pride. What are you going to do next? Well, if you're a member of the formidable Bartlet dynasty, you don't go to Disney World. You throw a gala wedding with less than twenty four hours notice. Yesterday morning, the extended Bartlet family came together to support four members of the family as they filed suit on behalf of the children of Mark and Jasmine Genaro, the inter-racial couple believed to have been murdered by the West Virginia White Pride. In an evening ceremony held at an undisclosed location last night, Josiah Ronald Young, the son of attorney Charlie Young and New Hampshire Lt. Governor Zoey Bartlet-Young, married Mary Delores McGarry, daughter of the late Leo McGarry..." 

Margaret continued to listen with half an ear as Danny read his editorial, but most of her attention was focused on Danny himself. She couldn't help but think how little he'd changed over the years. His hair and beard were still red, though he had to dye it to keep the gray from showing now. There were a few more wrinkles around his eyes and a few more pounds around his waist, but he was still the same man who had bullied her out of her grief by forcing her to work. He had shown up every morning for weeks to make sure she forced herself out of bed. Margaret had never questioned that his motives had been anything other than friendship. He had taken Mike to the scouting event and others in the months after Leo's death making sure the little boy had someone other than his mother to talk to about his father's death. Sometimes Dee would go with them to a movie or some other event leaving Margaret time to herself. He had even been willing to babysit as she'd tentatively returned to dating six months after Leo had died. It had only taken her two months of dating 'local gomers' for Margaret to realize that she wanted someone who had already found a place in her heart. 

It was at that moment that Danny noticed her watching him and lowered the paper to return her gaze. "What?" he asked raising an eyebrow. 

"I'm just thinking about how lucky I've been," Margaret told him honestly. "Dee looked beautiful last night didn't she? Walking down the aisle on your arm." 

"Her father should have been there to walk her down the aisle," Danny said. 

"One of her fathers was there," Margaret reminded him. "She wants to name the baby Daniel." Danny opened his mouth as if to say something, but no word came out. Margaret could see tears pooling in his eyes. "You're her Pop, Danny. She loves you. Almost as much as I do." 

For another minute Danny said nothing. The doubt she'd seen in his eyes earlier was gone replaced with a twinkle of mischief as he waggled his eyebrows. "You changed your mind about me getting lucky?" he asked as he leaned towards her. 

Margaret laughed as she pulled the Post from his lap and dropped it on the floor beside their bed. "I think I can be persuaded," she told him before Danny lowered his head to claim a kiss.


	22. Bring You Coffee?

"So do I need to bring you coffee?" Donna asked her husband as he returned to their brownstone home after his command performance meeting with the President. The people gathered in their living room laughed at the comment remembering the first time she'd brought him coffee. Their friends had gathered for a dinner to celebrate the 'uneventful' press conference the previous day. They'd already celebrated quite a bit last night, but the focus of that celebration had been Joe and Dee's wedding.

"You're a bit late," Josh admitted as he dropped his suit jacket onto the back of the sofa. He came around and pulled Donna from her seat. Sinking into the chair he'd just pulled her out of, Josh gently tugged Donna back down until she was seated in his lap. 

"What happened?" CJ asked.

"He didn't feel it was appropriate for a senior official in the administration to be seen taking a stance on such a hot topic," Josh replied tiredly as he rubbed Donna's back.

"Which really means he doesn't want attention drawn away from himself," Sam quipped. No one in the room had been thrilled with the candidate they'd been forced to back in the previous election, but he'd been the lesser of 'who cares' as their mentor had once said. "What did you say to that?"

"I told him he'd have my resignation tomorrow morning and that I'd give him a month to find a replacement," Josh replied. "To be fair, they've hired a lawyer and are threatening to sue me and the federal government for slander."

"Josh!" Margaret gasped. "What are you going to do?"

"First, I thought I'd hire a good attorney," Josh said. "You available, Ainsley?"

"It'll get tossed out, Josh" Sam said. "You didn't specifically say anything about the WVWP killing the Generao's."

"I know you guys tease me about not being a real lawyer, but even I know that," Josh admonished Sam. "I'll still need someone to represent me though, and Ainsley's not an attorney of record on the Genero suit. Soo...."

"Give me a dollar, Josh" Ainsley ordered him. Taking the dollar from his hand, she said, "You've got yourself a lawyer. Don't talk to the press, and Danny...."

"Off the record," Danny assured her. "Tonight's for family not work."

"Speaking of work," Toby began. "What are you going to do for work, Josh?"

"I thought I'd..." he said looking at Donna, but he got no further as Donna interrupted him.

"Oh, no!" she said. "You're not coming to work for me in the Senate."

"But..."

"No, but's Joshua," Donna told him. "It wouldn't look good. Not now and certainly now when I start campaigning. You're going to split your time between the DNC and giving lectures."

"Why the hell would you want me to do that?" Josh demanded angrily. "I'd be on the road all the time. We'd never see each other. That's why I agreed to be Sec. State for that weasel in the first place. So I could get off the road and spend more time at home."

"You should have thought of that before. Now that you're not going to be busy in the administration, I've got work for you," Donna said.

"How is Josh giving lectures working for you?" CJ asked as she sipped from her glass of wine.

"It was Josh's idea for me to try for the White House," Donna reminded them as she got up to grab Josh his own drink and check on the food baking in the oven.

"Yeah, and?" Margaret called after her still not seeing the connection. 

"So?" Danny said not seeing it either.

"We're going to need a staff," Josh murmured seeing where Donna's thoughts lay. "People that we can work with..."

"Yep," Donna agreed as she returned carrying several bottles of beer and another bottle of wine which she handed to Josh to open. "I'm sending Josh headhunting."

"Well," Sam said looking at Ainsley. When he saw her nod he continued, "I'm term limited. I'll be out of a job by next year."

"I'm in too," Ainsley told them. "It'll be good to get back to D.C." Ainsley had lost her second election to Congress by a narrow margin over twenty-five years before, but she hadn't been too disappointed nor surprised. She'd been pregnant with Billy during the campaign and had given birth just a month before the election. Her opponents, both Democrat and Republican, had used her new motherhood against her in the campaign, and the strategy had worked. 

She and Sam had decided to settle permanently in South Carolina because unlike Sam, Ainsley was close with her family. It would have been harder for her to live in California than for Sam to adjust to South Carolina. Sam had immediately been approached by the Democratic Party in South Carolina much to Ainsley's disgust. They had just opened their own law firm, and Ainsley had been looking forward to spending more time with her husband without the stress of their different political views a constant distraction. He'd resisted for four years before being drawn back into politics. Ainsley had supported him as willingly as he'd supported her. Sam had come to dominate the Democratic party in South Carolina as he'd won first mayoral elections then several state senatorial elections and finally two gubernatorial elections.

CJ and Toby shared a look. "Donna, Josh," Toby began cautiously. 

"Relax, Toby" Donna said. "I don't expect you guys to drop everything to go on the campaign with us. Or be part of the administration if I win. You do good things at the SPLC, Toby. You shouldn't leave it, and CJ, I know you love working with Penny and your other clients."

"Yeah," CJ admitted. "You know we'll help as much as we can..."

Josh reached out and squeezed her hand. "It's ok, CJ."

"Besides," Donna smirked. "I want a younger staff."

"Oh!!" CJ laughed. "That cuts deep, Donna."

"Seriously, I think it's time we passed on what Jed and Leo taught us," Donna said. "Don't you? Mary Marsh has got her successors all picked out," Donna reminded them with a grimace. "Ann Stark's passed her torch as well."

"So where do we start, Candidate Lyman?" Josh asked as he twirled a strand of her hair around his finger.

"I'm thinking you need to have a quiet word with the governor of Texas, Josh" Donna replied.


	23. The Passord Is 'Thing'

"Sara, can I see you in my office?" Danny requested as he stuck his head out the door.

Sara quickly saved the file she was working on then rose from Matt's borrowed desk. She settled into the visitor's chair opposite her boss then waited patiently to find out what he wanted. He had sounded so serious when he asked her into his office. Sara could only think that whatever it was, she wasn't going to like it.

"What's this file?" he asked turning the screen on his desk in her direction and pointing to it.

"It's a document file," Sara answered which earned her a glare.

"What's it about?"

"It's personal."

"Yeah, I figured that out when I tried to open it and realized it was encrypted with a password. Which is why I'm asking. What's it about?" Danny asked again. His eyes softened as he noticed Sara flinch slightly. "It's a pretty big file...about the size of a book I'd guess."

Sara nodded, but kept her head down.

"About The Thing," Danny guessed. It was the obvious guess considering the file was labeled 'Rosslyn.'

Sara nodded again but kept her eyes downcast.

"Sara, look at me," Danny ordered then waited until she'd complied before continuing. "I want to read it."

"Danny, I..." Sara said but trailed off as for once words failed her.

"Writer to writer, Sara" he told her looking directly into her eyes. "It will go no farther than that unless you want it."

"The password is 'thing'," Sara whispered as she stood and bolted from the room.

Danny stared after her for only a moment before his well honed sense of curiosity turned his attention once again to the file labeled 'Rosslyn' among all the other research files Sara had opened to the investigation. It only took a moment for the file to open, and then he began to read:

_Prologue_

_I was fourteen before I truly understood what my father's 'Thing' was. In our family, 'the thing' is just another pronoun. We use it to mean just about anything, but the 'Thing' means the day my father was shot. You can hear the capitalization when we say it, though it's spoken of rarely enough in my family. Like a stone thrown in a pond the ripples from the 'Thing' continue to expand outward even today..._

Danny was soon so engrossed in Sara's book he didn't even notice Margaret enter his office to get him for lunch. She took one look at the intense concentration on his face and resigned herself to lunch alone. When she returned more than an hour later with a sandwich and chips, she wasn't even surprised to find him exactly as she'd left him. Without taking his eyes from the screen in front of him Danny mumbled his thanks and reached for the sandwich. 

"Danny!" Margaret called from the doorway late in the afternoon. She noticed he'd finally finished reading whatever had captured his attention for the better part of the day. "Editorial meeting. Now," Margaret reminded her boss/husband.

Danny took off his reading glasses to rub tiredly at the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, okay. I need to talk to Sara after." he told her as he gathered the papers and disks he'd need for this meeting and ambled towards the conference room with Margaret trailing on his heels.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because I'm her boss, and she works for me," Danny quipped. "Relax, Aunt Margaret. I'm not going to make your god-daughter cry."

"Better not," she reminded her husband as she took her seat at the table where the rest of the meetings participants had already gathered.

Returning from the editorial meeting an hour later, Danny was for a second confused by the sight of Sara waiting for him in his office. "Sara," he greeted her as he sank into the chair behind his desk, dropping the papers he'd been carrying in a pile as he did so. "I've finished reading the book. Why haven't you finished it?" Danny asked.

"It's..." Sara began.

"Not finished," Danny completed for her. "There's only one thing left to do to finish it. All this stuff with the law suit doesn't really belong in there."

"I know," Sara admitted. "I just don't want to..."

"You should finish this, Sara" Danny advised her. "I want to help you get it published. It's good, Sara. Really good."

"I just don't know, Danny" Sara said. "It's..."

"I know," Danny told her, and he did. This book laid bare everything about the shooting in Rosslyn so many years ago. Sara had done her research well. It wasn't just another victim's book though. She had looked at the whole event: from the events leading up to it, to her father's recovery, and events beyond. She'd looked at the events from both sides of the guns. He'd been shocked as he'd read to learn that Sara had visited the federal prison in Terre Haute where the surviving assassin was held. Sara had also spoken with members of the slain gunmen's families and learned how they too had been effected. Sara had obviously put her heart into this book. The assassination attempt in Rosslyn was the 2 ton elephant of the extended Bartlet family. Everyone knew it was there, but know one talked about it. Sara's book would change that if it were published. He knew that it was an excellent piece of writing, but he also knew it lacked one thing to complete it. "I also know what needs to be done to finish it. Do you?" Danny asked though he suspected he knew the answer already. He suspected it was the real reason she'd asked for an overseas assignment.

Sara nodded not trusting herself to speak. "I was going to..." she mumbled. "I went over the night the Genaro thing broke to ask them about it. They were...." Sara's voiced trailed off to nothing. "I don't want to hurt them Danny. I don't want to bring it all back for them."

"It's why you asked for a transfer?" Danny asked.

"They were sitting on the floor in the living room with their photo albums and a couple bottles of wine," Sara whispered. "They were holding each other and crying. They didn't even realize I'd come in. I left before they noticed me."

"And asked for a transfer the next morning. Because you didn't want to be tempted to ask them about it?" Danny questioned her.

"Yes," Sara agreed. "I'd been thinking about the transfer for awhile before that, but..."

"The law suit has already brought it back, Sara. Go. Now," he ordered. "Go interview your parents. I want it on my desk in 48 hours. Consider it your first feature assignment. You can't keep avoiding it forever." 


	24. Dinner Plans

It wasn't until she was in the car on her way to her parent's home that Sara realized the significance of Danny's 48 hour deadline for this interview. Almost a month had passed since her father's press conference on the court house steps. Three days from now would be the anniversary of the assassination attempt at Rosslyn. 

She parked her car on the street outside her parent's brownstone home and was surprised to find the door already unlocked. 

"Donnatella?" her father called. Sara followed the sound of his voice back towards the kitchen. The sight that greeted her made her wish for a camera. Her father was cooking dinner or attempting to at least. 

"No, it's me," Sara told him as she tried valiantly to contain the laughter straining to break free. "What...are you...doing, Dad?" she asked as she lost the battle and her laughter spilled forth. 

"I'm trying to cook dinner for your mother," he admitted. 

"If you say so," Sara agreed as she took a bowl of what she thought was bread dough from her father and set it on the table. "Call Fast Fong's," she advised her father. 

Josh sighed. "Tomorrow is the reception in my honor at the White House, and then this weekend we promised to sit with Jed so Jodi and Matt could go to the dinner at the British Embassy," he explained. "And Monday I leave for Texas. So tonight..." 

"Stop right there!" Sara said. "I really don't want to know about my parent's love life, Dad. If it's all the same to you." 

"M'kay," Josh happily agreed. "Fast Fong's?" he asked. Sara nodded solemnly and waited while he placed an order to be delivered in two hours. 

"Dad, I hate to interrupt the night you've planned," Sara said. 

"But?" he asked. 

"Danny gave me an assignment," she told him hesitantly. "I need to interview you and Mom about the Thing." 

"When's your deadline?" Josh asked clearly frustrated at the prospect of giving up his romantic plans for the night even to his youngest child. 

"Danny gave me forty-eight hours," she told him. 

"Come over tomorrow night when we're babysitting Jed," Josh requested. "Bring Billy with you. He can watch Jed while you interview your mom and I." 

"Thanks, Dad" Sara said visibly relieved that he'd agreed to the interview so easily. "Now lets get this cleaned up before Mom gets home." 

An hour and a half later Sara slipped from her parents home after having helped her father clean up the mess he'd made of the kitchen. By the time Donna arrived home thirty minutes later, he'd arranged candles throughout the house and put some of their favorite music on the sound system. 

"What's the occasion?" she asked as she hung her coat in the closet in the entry hall. 

"The occasion is that tonight is the last night we'll have all to ourselves for at least two weeks," he explained as he settled his hands on her hips to pull her into his embrace. 

"Mmm," Donna purred as their lips parted some minutes later. "A night all to ourselves."

"Yeah," Josh whispered in her ear. Unwilling to separate from her yet, he wrapped one arm around her waist and led her towards the table where their dinner waited for them. "You just missed Sara," he told her.

"She stop by for something particular?" Donna asked as her hand wandered up and down Josh's back.

"Yeah, Danny's given her an assignment," Josh said with a grimace. 

"Why do I think I'm not going to be happy about this?" Donna asked with no small amount of trepidation. 

"She needs to interview us about...about the Thing. I called Danny after she left," he admitted. "Sara's written a book about it. Danny says it's really good, but to finish it she needs to interview us. Danny gave her the assignment to push her into doing it."

"And because the anniversary is in three days, and it will be good for the Post," Donna added.

"Yeah," Josh agreed. "We can do this Donna. It's time."

Donna nodded. "I would rather it be Sara than anyone else, except maybe Danny or Matt," she said. "What do you think she'll ask?" 

"The hard questions," Josh replied. "She's gonna want to know about everything."

"Your PTSD," Donna mumbled.

"Yeah, and everything else," he agreed. "You think Sara will let us read it?" 

"The interview?" Donna asked absently. Her mind was still occupied with all the things Sara could ask of them. She knew Sara had seen the ugliness of life as a reporter. She wasn't even ignorant of the bullet wound in her daughter's kevlar vest, though she let Sara think she was. This was different though. Her mind shied away from the thought of reliving the Thing for the readers of the Washington Post.

"Donnatella," Josh asked as he placed his hand on her forearm. "What is it, sweetheart?"

"I don't want to relive it again," she admitted. "I don't want to bring it back. I don't want to see it again on the news. I don't want reporters calling here asking for interviews. I just want..."

"You know it's never going to go away," Josh murmured as he held her now weeping form in his arms. "Especially with you running. Better we face it on our own terms. It's part of us now, and has been for a long time. It's part of our kids too. Look at what Noah said to Toby, and Sara's book. Jodi has her obsession with gun responsibility."

Donna nodded as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "When are we doing it?" she asked.

"I told her to come by tomorrow night while we're watching Jed. I told her to bring Billy to take care of Jed while we talk," her husband told her.

"And to take care of her when it's over," Donna said knowing the twists and turns of her husband's mind.


	25. The Interview

"Hi, Uncle Josh," Billy greeted him as Josh opened the door the next day. Standing next to him looking as nervous as he'd ever seen her was his youngest daughter. 

"Come in, guys" Josh told them as he urged them inside out of the early summer heat. "Your mom's fixing us a salad for dinner," he told his daughter as he gave her a hug. "Have you eaten?"

They both told him they hadn't as Josh lead the way into the kitchen where Donna was busily tearing lettuce for a salad. 

"Josh, peel the carrots," she ordered as she wiped her hands on a towel before she too gave both Sara and Billy a hug. "Billy you can get the dressings and stuff out of the fridge."

"I'll cut up the tomatoes and cucumbers," Sara offered as she sat on a stool at the counter and pulled the cutting board and vegetables to her. "When are Matt and Jodi bringing the baby by?"

"In a few minutes," Josh replied as he clumsily cut carrots. 

Sara made quick work of the tomatoes and cucumbers before taking the knife from her father. "Give me that before you hurt yourself, Dad" she ordered.

Donna snickered, but continued to tear lettuce. 

"Mom, Dad?" they heard Jodi call from the front of the brownstone.

"We're in the kitchen, Jodi!" Donna called as she wiped her hands on a kitchen towel. As soon as Jodi and Matt appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, she took baby Jed's carrier away from them and set it on the table. Within moments, Jed was tucked in his grandma's arms. "Go get the camera, Josh," she ordered.

Josh almost snickered, but thought better of it at the last moment, knowing he was no better when it came to their first grandchild. Instead he headed off to their study to get the camera. They hadn't sent Abbey any new pictures of her great-grandson in two days after all.

When Josh returned he snapped pictures of Matt and Jodi in their evening attire holding little Jed before they left then pictures of each of them holding him, and finally pictures of the baby by himself. By the time Donna was satisfied they had enough pictures of the baby, Jed fell quickly asleep tired from all the attention he'd been shown. Donna continued to hold him though as they ate their meal.

After their dinner was over, they got down to the real business of the evening. Josh pulled a bottle of wine from the fridge and opened it while Sara brought four glasses to the table. Donna continued to hold the baby, but none of them suggested she put him down in his carrier. 

"What do you remember about that night?" Sara asked to start the interview. She planned to get the two of them to recount the night her father was shot before she began asking the tougher questions. Hopefully they'd all be slightly relaxed from the wine before the really hard questions had to be asked.

Josh rested his arm across the back of Donna's chair as she took the lead in describing her memories of that night. He occasionally threw in a comment or two, but for the most part he let Donna speak for both of them as he caressed the back of her neck soothingly. His attention strayed for a moment though as he noticed that Billy's hand was making a similar motion at the small of Sara's back. Josh looked up into the other man's eyes, and Donna's voice faded as he looked at the younger man. Josh knew at that moment why it was said the eyes are the windows to the soul because he saw deeply into Billy's soul in that single instant and knew without a doubt that Billy saw just as deeply into his. A silent communication passed between the two. A trust was extended and responsibility was taken all without a word being spoken. Josh acknowledged with that look that he was no longer first in his baby's heart. That place belonged to Billy now. Billy in his turn acknowledged the pain that realization cost Josh. The depth of his piercing blue eyes, so like his father's, silently promised that he would never hurt Sara's heart. It was a promise Josh knew he couldn't keep. He would hurt her and she him many times, but as long as they remembered the love and joy more than the pain and hurt they would be alright. It was something that all of the 'Bartlet' parents tried to teach their children. Something they had learned by example from Jed and Abbey.

Josh forced himself to break eye contact with Billy and return his attention to what Donna was saying. "I've always wondered," Josh said interrupting Donna's description of her race to GW that night so long ago. "After that night when you told me you wouldn't stop for red lights, if you were talking about that night. I could never bring myself to ask though."

"I was talking about that night," Donna assured him as she leaned into him.

He draped an arm across her shoulder as she told Sara and Billy about what had transpired while he was in surgery. It seemed strange now to realize that he'd never heard any of this before. Until this moment he had no idea what Donna had gone through while he was in surgery. He had made a few attempts to ask her over the years, but she'd never been able to talk about it. So he had stopped asking.

"You watched?!" he gasped staring at her as if she'd suddenly grown a third eye in the middle of her forehead.

"I...I needed to see you," she explained. "I needed to be there. Abbey arranged it. I stood in the observation room above the theater. She stayed with me for a while. So did Mrs. L. I think I remember Toby there for a while. And Sam."

"The guys whimped out didn't they?" he smirked.

Surprisingly the answer to his question came from Sara. "Yeah, they couldn't handle the blood," she said. "They both mentioned it when I interviewed them. Of course...."

"What?" Josh prompted when she stopped. 

"They'd already been covered in your blood that night," she told her father. "When they found you. They tried to stop the bleeding..."

"I remember..." Josh whispered. His eyes went distant and vacant as the long distant scene played out like a movie on a screen only he could see. "I remember Toby finding me and screaming for help. And CJ and Sam coming. So much screaming...and the sirens from the ambulance and police. I remember Toby yelling at me, and the pain in my chest. I wanted to yell at him," Josh said. "He was leaning on my chest, and it hurt so much I wanted him to stop."

"Take a drink, Josh" Donna ordered him. "Then take a deep breath."

"I'm okay," he told her, but he followed her instructions and took a sip from the glass on the table in front of him.

"What's the first thing you remember after the surgery, Dad?" Sara asked. 

"Sara, I was doped out of my mind. I don't have a clear memory for the first week or so," Josh told her. "I remember your mother sitting with me. I remember faces above me, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. I was told your grandpas were the first people I spoke to after I woke up, but I don't remember it."

"Grandma Abbey says you asked grandpa Jed 'what's next?'" Sara said. "Do you have any idea why you asked him that?"

"It was a thing he used to do," Josh explained. "He'd always clap his hands together and ask 'What's next?' He did it mostly when he was nervous I think."

Sara jumped in quickly before they got completely off track. "I have to ask," she said. "Were you together then? There's always been speculation, but..."

"Were we together then? Yes," Donna answered. "Did we have a clue we were together then? No."

"I don't get what you're saying," Sara admitted.

Josh explained, "People took one look at us and knew we'd spend our lives together. We had no clue though. I sabotaged her dates, and she'd throw me at other women. Neither of us dated anyone seriously for over four years, and we were clueless."

"What finally woke you up to each other?" Sara asked out of personal curiosity more than professional need.

"Your mother passed out one day at work before Jed's second election," Josh told her. "The air conditioning in the West Wing fritzed out and your mom had been working really hard."

"Translation: your father hadn't let me go home in over forty-eight hours," Donna interrupted. "I got de-hydrated and fainted."

"I thought my heart had stopped when I found her just lying there," he told them. 

"It was two in the morning and he called directly into the Residence and dragged your grandma Abbey, who you must remember was the First Lady of the United States at the time, out of bed," Donna said describing what had happened. "I'd never been more embarrassed in my life."

"Payback's a bitch," Josh snickered. "How many times had you done something similar to me."

"I'd never dragged the First Lady out of bed to come see you," Donna protested.

"No you just called her and the Surgeon General to brow beat me when you felt I wasn't taking care of myself properly," Josh reminded her.

"Whatever works," Donna said with a shrug as she gave Josh a knowing look. "I couldn't very well punish you the way I do now."

"TMI!" Sara said quickly as he held up her hands in a gesture of warding. "Ok, new ground rule for this interview. I do not want to know anything about your sex lives."

Donna shrugged before throwing a mischievous grin toward Josh.

"Anyway," Josh said taking them back to the story. "I knew right then that I wanted to be with your mother for the rest of our lives."

"You did not!" Donna exclaimed. "We didn't even start dating until after the election. It was months before you proposed."

"I called my mother that night and told her I was going to marry you within a year," Josh argued. "She asked me what the hell took me so long."

"I don't believe you," Donna scoffed.

"Billy go into our study. On the top shelf of the bookcase there's a small wooden box. Get it for me," Josh commanded. A minute later Billy returned with the box filling his arms and placed it on the table. Josh opened the box and quickly found what he was looking for. "Mom's diary," he explained as he flipped through the pages. "Here. Read that, Donnatella."

Donna took the diary from him and began to read, "August 7, Josh called very early this morning. He was pretty upset. Donna collapsed last night at the White House while they were working. It's apparently nothing but de-hydration.. It scared him though, he said, but it also made him realize just how important to him she is. He told me he's going to have his ring on her finger within the year. Finally! I knew after he was shot that they'd be together eventually, but I never thought it would take this long. They're both so stubborn. I was starting to fear I wouldn't get grandchildren until Jed Bartlet left office!"

Sara traded a grin with Billy and her father at the stunned look on her mother's face. 

"I can't believe you Joshua," she huffed but she pulled the book closer to her, and Joshua knew she was savoring the words his mother had written on that page.

The interview continued for hours and by the end of it, all four of them were emotionally drained. Sara had asked her hard questioned, but in between those hard points were moments of levity and happiness. Sara was truly a gifted interviewer. She knew exactly when to back off and let her subjects regroup emotionally before pressing forward again. Normally, an interview wouldn't be so draining for her, but ripping open her own parents wounds took its toll on her as well. Sara gathered her tape recorder and notes from the table as she absently wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Josh announced. "You guys can stay in the guest room or you can take a cab home. Neither of you are in any condition to drive though."

"I think we'll take that cab, sir" Billy answered for them knowing Sara would want privacy to gather her thoughts and write her article. Sara made no objection so Josh nodded and went to call the cab.

Before he could though, Matt and Jodi pushed open the front door and quietly stepped inside. 

"Your mom's changing him in the guest room," Josh said indulgently. He remembered what it had been like leaving Jodi those first few months. 

Matt and Jodi didn't have to be told twice. They both headed down the hall towards their son.

"Hold up on the cab, Dad. We'll see if Matt and Jodi can take us home," Sara said in a voice that was slightly scratchy from crying and the amount of talking they'd done.

Josh nodded as he began to clear the glasses and empty wine bottles from the table. Fifteen minutes later, he and Donna stood in the foyer of their home watching the four younger people leave. 

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Donna admitted.

"She's very good," Josh said with more than a small amount of pride in his voice.

Donna laughed recognizing the sound of Josh's ego ballooning out of proportion.

"Yes, she is," Donna agreed. "She must get that from me."

Josh laughed as he gently steered her towards their bedroom. "Come on, Senator Lyman. Let's get some sleep. I have to be at the airport by noon," he told her.

"He agreed to see you?" she asked as she changed for bed.

"Yeah, I've got an hour of his time tomorrow at six," Josh told her as he climbed into their bed.


	26. Meeting the Governor

Josh winced as he rose from his seat on the plane. He was glad that he'd given in to Donna's nagging and brought his cane with him on the plane. The pain in his side throbbed after such a long time sitting in a confined space. He made his way into the terminal of the airport not really paying attention to anyone.

"Mr. Lyman!" a voice called from the somewhere to his right.

Josh pasted a smile on his face with difficulty as he turned to see who was calling him. He was expecting to see some television reporter with cameraman in tow waiting to do a story on why the ex-Secretary of State was in Austin. Instead he saw the solemn expression of a Texas Ranger with hat in hand. "Is there something I can do for you, Ranger?" he asked.

"My name's Tom Keegan, Mr. Lyman. The Governor asked me to escort you to the mansion for your meeting," he explained. "I'll take that bag for you, sir." 

"It's much appreciated, Ranger Keegan," Josh told him as he happily relinquished his carry on to the younger man. "How long will it take us to get there?"

"About half an hour, sir. Do you have any other luggage?" the ranger asked.

"No, I'm just down here for a couple days," Josh told him as he followed the man out to where a large SUV waited in the drop off zone. _'RHIP'_ thought Josh as he settled into the front seat next to the ranger. No sooner had he buckled his seatbelt than they were moving.

Josh and Ranger Keegan talked amiably about the state of professional baseball the entire thirty minute trip. The ranger showed his badge at the security gate at the entrance to the Texas governor's mansion and was immediately waved through. He pulled directly up to the front door and parked. Keegan ushered Josh into the mansion where they were met by the First Lady of Texas who to Josh's eye hadn't changed much in the thirty years he'd known her.

"Well look at you, Josh" Bri said as she gave him a hug. "How's retirement treating you?" she asked with a knowing look. 

"Since this is only my fourth day of 'retirement', I don't think I can answer that yet," Josh replied with a wink. 

"I got an email from Donna an hour ago on the care and feeding of Joshua Lyman. You can have no more than two drinks tonight," she informed him primly though she made no effort to hide the laughter in her eyes. "Do you want one now or should we wait until after dinner?" she teased.

"Just a soda," Josh answered with a sigh as he fished a small bottle out of the pocket of his pants. "I need to take one of these damn painkillers, and I can't take them with alcohol."

"Your side?" she asked with concern as she linked her arm with his letting him lean on her slightly as well as his cane as they made their way into the formal living room. 

Josh nodded as he sank gratefully into the sofa stretching his aching muscles carefully. "Sitting so long on the flight," he explained. "I hate being old."

"You've aged well, Josh" a voice behind him said. 

Josh turned to see the governor of Texas entering the room trailed by several aides and his security detail. The agents stationed themselves at the door while the aides hovered behind the governor. Josh started to rise in greeting, but sank back down as Ethan waved him back to his seat. "You haven't aged that badly yourself, Governor" Josh replied with a smile. 

"Thank you," Ethan told the aides. "That's going to be it for the evening, folks. Have a nice night."

A few of the braver souls in the group came forward to offer their hand to Josh. With a smile Josh shook hands with each of them in turn. A few minutes later after the last of the staffers had gotten their chance to shake hands with Josh, the detail withdrew from the room closing the doors behind them.

"So what are you really down here for, Josh?" Ethan asked as he sat down next to his wife. "This lecture tomorrow is a bullshit excuse."

"But I'm going to make a lot of money doing it," Josh told them. "Donna's sent me headhunting."

"Headhunting?" Bri questioned. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she asked, "Just whose head are you hunting?"

"Yours," Josh told them. "I've got this urge to be the first at something before I die."

Now it was Ethan's turn to look at Josh with suspicion. "Tom Buckley's retiring isn't he?" he asked.

"Yep," Josh confirmed with a grin.

"So that first you want to be before you die," Ethan said. "That wouldn't happen to be First Husband would it?"

"Bri, have I ever told you what a smart man you married?" 

"God, Josh!" she exclaimed. "Really?"

"Really," he confirmed.

"So what do you want me for?" Ethan asked cautiously.

"Vice President," Josh responded immediately.

Ethan ran a hand across his face as he eyed Josh. "Who else do you have?" 

"You two are the first ones outside the family we've told," Josh admitted.

"The whole family knows?" Bri asked. "Sam and Ainsley..."

"Yeah," Josh confirmed.

"Why not Sam then?" Ethan asked. "He's..."

"...older than Donna," Josh interrupted. "In eight years, he'll be too old to run. Charlie's not interested in it. He's got other windmills to tilt at."

"Zoey then..." Ethan said. 

"Two women on the ticket?" Josh snorted. "Besides Zoey doesn't have the same experience you do."

"She's got a recognizable name," Ethan argued. 

"So do you, Ethan. You're a national leader in immigration reform, border security, farm and ranch subsidies, and NAFTA. The whole father-daughter thing would only go so far, Ethan. You know that," Josh said bluntly. "And then it's going to be issues and experience. Besides we need someone from the South."

"Why are you asking me now?" Ethan asked. 

"Because we want a **_team_**, Ethan" Josh said. "We don't want to have to deal with the kind of crap Hoynes put Jed through. So we're going to plan ahead. When we go out campaigning, we're going to start out with a VP candidate right by our side." 

"Why?" Ethan asked. It was obvious from the expression on his face he could think of more than a few reasons, but he wanted to know what Josh's thinking was.

"Because we're going to have a VP already chosen, so why pretend otherwise?" Josh asked. "Plus then we have two candidates to work with instead of one. We're going to have a female candidate for the President of the United States of America. It can't be a standard campaign. There's no way we'd win if we did that. Can you honestly see me speaking at ladies' auxiliary meetings? Donna and I want to have the key positions already chosen. At least those that don't have to be confirmed. I'm going to do my thing for the DNC, but while I'm at it..."

"You're going to be looking for people to fill positions in the administration," Bri finished for him.

"Yeah, you have any suggestions?" he asked only half seriously.

"A few," she told him, but her reply was considerably more serious than his question. "If Ethan and I are going to join the team, Josh. We're going to want more than a token say," she warned.

"Bri, if the two of you do this you'll have much more than a token say," Josh promised. "Especially since I think a lot of the duties that would normally fall to the First Lady will end up on your shoulders. Yours and maybe Jodi's. The public's not ready to make that leap yet. I'm not good at the whole goodwill ambassador thing anyway," he admitted. 

Ethan snorted. "That's no_** secret, **_Josh. Has God been indicted for tax fraud again lately?" he asked with a wink. "Chief of Staff?"

"Yeah," Josh confirmed even as he laughed at Ethan's joke. "That's the_** plan,**_ anyway. Jodi as one of my deputies. Maybe name her as a roving ambassador or to the communications staff." Josh was keenly aware that one of the biggest hurdles faced by any female Presidential candidate would be her husband. The role the First Lady normally played was one that the American public had a problem seeing a First Husband playing, and so Josh knew that one of the greatest challenges that would be faced by this campaign would be re-defining the role of the First Spouse. It didn't help that he was so well known in politics as well. At best, Josh could hope to present them as a 'two for one' deal for the voters, but it would be a fine line to walk. If they weren't careful Donna would be seen as nothing more than Josh's puppet. By defining his role in Donna's administration before the election and presenting the voters with a suitable substitute or two for the role the First Lady would normally play, he hoped to remove or at least lower the bar on that hurdle before they were even faced with it. 

"Bri and I need to talk about this, Josh" he said solemnly. "This isn't something we can just decide."

"I understand," Josh said. "Take as much time as you need."

A knock at the door interrupted anything else that he might have said. The man who entered announced that dinner was ready so they stood and Josh walked with the couple into the dining room. The conversation for the rest of the evening centered around politics, but nothing more was said of what they'd spoken about before.


	27. Getting a Clue

"We're missing something," Kate mused as she stared at the large chart taped to the wall in her living room.

"No kidding," Noah agreed as he paced in front of another chart drawn on the large white board propped against the wall. Giving up his pacing he flopped down on the couch next to Kate. It was Sunday so they hadn't gone into the office to work. Instead they'd worked through the night in the living room turned war room in Kate's apartment, but they were no closer to finding the source of the West Virginia White Pride's financing. "Where's the remote?" he asked as he reached into the couch cushions searching for the missing device. 

"You want to watch TV?" Kate asked with more than a hint of exasperation.

"Uncle Danny and Sara are going to be guests on 'Meet the Press' this morning," Noah explained as he dug deeper into the cushions.

Kate began rifling through the papers strewn across her coffee table as she asked, "How's Sara handling that?"

"She called last night while you were out getting groceries," Noah said. "She was freaking out."

"So?" Kate asked looking up. The way he said it made her think there was a story there.

"So she's freaking out about having to go on camera, and then I hear Billy say he knows how they can relieve some tension," Noah replied with an amused look on his face.

"And?" she asked as she began to chuckle. Kate had some idea where this was going. Everyone in the family had heard about the kiss in the middle of admittance at GWUH.

"There was silence and then a dial tone," Noah said as he wiggled his eyebrows comically.

Kate snickered. "I guess they figured it out then," she said. 

"Yeah, they've already moved in together," Noah said as he got down on hands and knees to search under the couch for the missing remote control.

"Hey, that reminds me. You never did tell me who else needs to get a clue," Kate reminded him.

Noah stilled. He was glad his face was hidden from her as he knelt on the floor because if she'd been able to see his expression the question would have been moot. As he tried to figure out how to answer her, Noah spotted the remote control on the floor under the couch. "Found it!" he said loudly. He turned on the television and settled beside her nearly breathing a sigh of relief as the familiar logo of the Sunday morning news program came on the screen. 

_"Today on Meet the Press, we'll be speaking with Washington Times editor Danny Concannon and Washington Times reporter Sara Lyman about their ongoing series of articles on the mecca of the skinhead movement in America, the Newseum in Rosslyn, Virginia," Jacquelyn Radel said into the camera. "Sara, you have a very personal interest in the history of the Newseum. Tell us about it?" Radel asked._

_"The event that created this...alter of hate at the Newseum was the shooting thirty-two years ago that injured President Bartlet and several others," Sara explained. "My father was among those shot that night."_

_"You also have ties to that incident, Danny?" _

_"I was a White House reporter at the time," Danny replied. "I wasn't there that night, but I knew most of those that were."_

_"You recently interviewed your parents about the shooting, Sara. How difficult was that?" _

_"I think it was a healing experience for all of us," Sara responded. "There were things my parents had never talked to each other about concerning that night, and I had never asked them about it before."_

_"Why not?"_

_"It's a sensitive subject in my family," Sara admitted. "And we're not ones to dwell on the past. I think it's something they learned from Grandpa Jed. President Bartlet. Dad and Mom said he was always asking 'What's next?'"_

_Danny chuckled at the memory. "Yeah, it drove them nuts during the first campaign. That and the fact that he couldn't remember their names half the time," he recalled._

_ "He couldn't remember their names?" Radel asked in surprise._

_Sara smiled. "Grandpa Jed didn't really want to be President when he was running that first time," Sara told her fellow reporter. "He wanted to raise the level of debate. He didn't think he had a chance of actually winning. It was one of the reasons he kept the MS to himself. So he did a lot of things sub-consciously to, I guess, drive home the point that they weren't going to win. Never remembering their names being one of them."_

_"What else did he do to his campaign staff?" Radel asked._

_Danny's chuckles turned into laughter at that point. "You ever been on a bus for five hours listening to a lecture on the economy of ancient Mongolia?" he asked. "I survived that one. Your dad was being punished for something that time, if I remember right" he told Sara._

_"Why doesn't that surprise me? When he broke his hip I sat through the grossest three hour lecture on hip replacement in his hospital room," Sara reminisced. "Mom must have told him that I was failing biology."_

_"Whenever Leo wanted to punish someone they got assigned the seat next to Jed," Danny explained to Radel. "And of course, he knew what Leo was doing so he'd pull the most archaic boring subject you'd ever heard of out of thin air and proceed to lecture on it for several hours..."_

Noah switched off the television as Radel thanked Danny and Sara for their appearance.

"So," Kate drawled. "Who else needs to get a clue?"

Noah didn't know what to do so he turned and touched his lips to hers. As soon as their lips met, Noah knew he was lost. He deepened the kiss as he brought his hand to the back of her head and cupped the other at her waist to hold her to him. Kate's eyes widened at his sudden move, but she didn't resist. She let herself melt into the kiss enjoying the taste of him in her mouth. They stayed like that for several minutes before the wheels began spinning in her head, and she broke the kiss in a way Noah couldn't have expected...with her knee. Noah gasped in pain as Kate pushed him away from her with enough force to send him to the floor where he knocked his head on the coffee table.

"You JERK!" she screamed at him. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"Kate..." he rasped as he lay curled in a ball on the floor of her living room cupping the injured part of his anatomy. "I love you, Kate."

"You're just deciding this now?" she yelled as she stood over him. "Damn you, Noah Lyman!" With that Kate grabbed her purse and keys and swept from the room leaving him on the floor where he fell. 

Forty minutes later after driving around aimlessly for almost half an hour, Kate found herself opening the door to her parent's home. "Mom!" she yelled through her tears. "Daddy?"

"Kate?" she heard her father call from inside his home office just before the door opened. Toby took one look at his oldest daughter and opened his arms to envelope her in his embrace as he hurried towards her. "What happened, sweetheart? Are you alright?" he asked. He heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs as C.J. joined them in the living room. She quickly joined him in holding their daughter as she cried. Toby let C.J. transfer their daughter to her own embrace as Kate continued to sob. They didn't say anything at first knowing Kate needed to let her tears fall before she could tell them what was wrong. "Tell us what happened," he asked as he rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Noah..." Kate sobbed into her mother's shoulder. "He kissed me...and...and then...then..." Kate tried to explain through her tears. It was enough of an explanation for Toby though. He had the name of the man who'd hurt his baby. He left Kate to C.J. and grabbed the keys from the table in the hall. '_I don't care if he's Josh and Donna's son. I'm going to break that kid in two,'_ Toby thought as he got behind the wheel of his car and pulled out towards Kate's condo. 

Meanwhile, C.J. had finally managed to calm Kate enough to get an intelligent sentence from her.

"What happened after he kissed you, Kate?" C.J. asked. "Did he...did he hurt you?"

Kate gaped at her mother. "Hurt me? Noah?" she asked. "No, of course not! He said he's in love with me."

"Then what happened?" C.J. asked thoroughly confused at this point. 

"He curled up in a ball on the floor," Kate mumbled so quietly C.J. thought she must have misunderstood.

"He...why was he on the floor?" C.J. questioned.

"I..." Kate blushed and wouldn't look her mother in the eye. 

"You didn't!" C.J. demanded. 

"Oh, Mom!" Kate moaned miserably. "I kneed him in the groin, and then I pushed him off the couch. And he hit his head on the coffee table. I panicked. There we were watching 'Meet the Press' and then he's kissing me. I got scared."

"Noah certainly has his father's luck with women," C.J. murmured as she rubbed Kate on the back. "It'll be alright. Why did you get scared?"

"Because this is Noah!" Kate told her mother as if that should explain everything.

Which in a way it did, but C.J. wanted to hear Kate admit it aloud. "So?" she asked. "You've kissed plenty of men, Kate. You've done more than kiss men. You know how to handle yourself. Why did kissing Noah scare you?" _'C'mon Kate. Take the bait,'_ C.J. thought as she watched her daughter try to come up with an answer. 

"Because....because," Kate stuttered.

"Because?" C.J. questioned.

"Because I love him, too" Kate whimpered as she buried her head in her hands. "And now I've ruined it!" she wailed.

"**_It_** hasn't even really started yet," C.J. said placing special emphasis on the first word. "You two will screw up plenty more times than this before you get it right."

"What if he's changed his mind?" Kate asked. "Oh God, Mom! He kissed me and I kneed him in the groin! Then I ran out and left him writhing on the floor."

"He'll forgive you," C.J. assured her daughter as she bit the inside of her cheek to keep form laughing at the picture her daughter had just painted in her mind. _'Noah is definitely his father's son!'_ C.J. thought with a mental laugh.

"How can you be so sure?" Kate demanded.

"Because he's Josh and Donna's son," C.J. said. "Weird, mixed up courtships are in his blood. This isn't even a blip on the radar compared to what they put each other through."

Kate laughed at her mother's explanation.

"Dry your eyes," C.J. ordered. "Then we'll fix your make-up, and you can go home and work it out with Noah."

Kate nodded before something finally dawned on her. "Where's Dad?" she asked.

Their eye's met and in unison they said, "Oh, shit!"


	28. The Matchmaker

"Noah Lyman!" Toby roared as he let himself into his daughter's home. "Where the Hell are you?"

"Un'le Toby?" he heard Noah call him from the living room.

Toby stalked into the living room intent on making Noah pay for whatever he'd done to hurt Kate, but what he saw stopped him in his tracks. Toby sighed and whispered, "Oh Hell!"

"She hates me, Un'le Toby," Noah moaned from where he sat sprawled in the arm chair. It was pretty obvious that he too had been crying over whatever had happened between himself and Kate, but that wasn't what caught Toby's attention.

"You're drunk, Noah" Toby informed the younger man.

Noah raised the nearly empty bottle of scotch to his face and peered quizzically at the amount left inside. "Why, yes. I believe I am," he informed his uncle as he carefully poured himself another glass.

Before he could bring the glass to his lips to take another sip, Toby had stalked across the room and snatched it from his hand along with the bottle. "Give me that before you give yourself alcohol poisoning," Toby said before taking a sip from the glass himself. "What happened, Noah?" Toby asked as he eyed the younger man's pitiful condition. "Start from the beginning."

Noah met Toby's gaze with eyes that didn't quite focus and said, "I'm in love with your daughter."

"Tell me something I don't already know," Toby growled. 

"You know?" Noah asked confusedly. "How do you know? Did Mom tell you? Or my sisters?"

"Noah, you've been in love with Kate for years. You are just like your dad was with your mom," Toby said. "Totally in love and totally oblivious. The only two people who didn't know you were in love were you and Kate."

"Oh," was the only reply that came to Noah's alcohol numbed mind. "What am I going to do, Uncle Toby? She hates me."

"No, she doesn't," Toby disagreed with a sigh. "Now tell me what happened so we can fix it." Noah eyed him warily. Toby's protectiveness of his children was legendary. Something in Noah's expression must have given Toby a clue as to what the younger man was thinking. "Eventually, Noah, you'll make her happy. I know that. So I'm going to do what I can to get the two of you to that point with the least amount of pain involved," Toby told him. "I**_ do not_** want to go through another courtship like your parents put us through."

Noah smiled in spite of himself. "You think we're like my parents?" he asked.

Instead of answering the question Toby growled, "Stop changing the subject. What happened that had my daughter crying on my shoulder ten minutes ago?"

Noah's expression sobered instantly. "I made her cry?" he asked. "Kate never cries."

"What did you do, Noah?" Toby yelled at him as he finally lost his patience.

"I kissed her," Noah replied.

"Then what?" Toby demanded.

"She kneed me in the groin and yelled at me. She thought I was playing at something," Noah said. "I told her I loved her."

"And?" Toby asked.

"She called me a jerk and left," Noah answered as he made a grab to reclaim the scotch. 

"No," Toby said as he evaded Noah. "You have your father's delicate system. I don't need you passing out on me." Toby pulled Noah into a standing position then steadied the younger man as he swayed on his feet. "Let's get you sobered up," he said as he lead Noah down the hall to the bathroom. He got Noah into the shower and turned icy water on the drunken man full blast.

"Jesus, Uncle Toby!" Noah screamed as he tried to get out of the shower and away from the cold water.

"Stay there," Toby ordered. "I'm going to go make you some coffee, and I'd better find you there when I get back."

Noah glared but didn't try to get out of the shower again so Toby left him to make coffee.

"Ziegler," he growled into his cell phone a minute later as it began to vibrate in his pocket.

"Dad!" he heard Kate greet him. "Where are you?"

"At your place. Where did you think I'd go?" Toby told her.

"What have you done, Dad?" Kate demanded. "You'd better not..."

"I'm not the one who hurt him," Toby told her with a quiet snicker. "Your mother was right that day at Leo's funeral about you taking care of yourself, Kate."

"Is he alright, Dad?" Kate asked apprehensively. "I didn't hurt him too bad did I?"

"Noah, how's your...ermm...injury?" Toby asked in a loud voice intended to break through the alcohol induced fog Noah was in as he carried a cup of microwaved coffee back into the bathroom.

"My head hurts," Noah told him from within the shower.

"Dad, he hit his head on the coffee table when I pushed him off the couch," Kate told him after he'd relayed the information to her. "He may have a concussion."

Toby snorted. "More likely he's got the start of a hang-over," he told his daughter.

"What?" 

"He's drunk, Kate" Toby told her.

"He's drunk!" Kate exclaimed. "How could he..."

"I don't know...it's usually a good way to numb pain," he interrupted her. "Why do you think he crawled into a bottle, Kate? He's upset, Kate! He told you he loves you and you called him a jerk and left!"

"You're taking his side?" Kate demanded forgetting for the moment that she herself had already admitted to her mother that she'd been wrong to do what she'd done.

"Do you love Noah?" Toby demanded.

"That's not the point!" Kate dismissed the question.

"Of course it's the point!" Toby yelled into the phone. "Now answer the damn question!" he demanded just before he handed the phone to a dripping Noah.

"Of course I love him!" Noah listened to Kate scream. "I've loved him for years!"

"You do?" Noah asked as he sat abruptly on the toilet forgetting for the moment that he was still dripping from the cold shower his uncle had forced on him. Toby draped a towel over his shoulders then left closing the door behind him.

"Noah?" Kate asked.

"Yeah," Noah replied as he ran a tired hand across his dripping face. "I do love you, Kate" he told her with more than a little urgency.

"I love you, too" she admitted quietly.

"Will you give me a chance, Kate?" he asked hoping Kate couldn't hear just how close to tears he was. "Please give us a chance, Kate" he begged.

"How could I not?" Kate replied in a voice so quiet he had to strain to hear.

"Come home," Noah begged. He held his eyes tightly closed as he waited for her answer.

"I'll be right there," she promised.


	29. Gossip

"So then what happened?" Donna asked from her position on the loveseat snuggled at Josh's side.

CJ leaned forward from her seat on the couch across from Josh and Donna and refilled all four wine glasses before answering. "We got over to Kate's place and Toby's got Noah sitting in the kitchen pouring coffee into him," she said.

"He inherited your sensitive system," Donna smirked at her husband.

Josh had long ago given up protesting his so called 'sensitive system' to Donna and the rest of their family and friends, and so he simply shrugged. The gesture and the expression on his face clearly said 'yeah, whatever'. 

CJ didn't miss the exchange between them, but continued with her story. "They stood there staring at one another for what seemed like forever," CJ told them before wetting her throat with a sip of wine. "Then Kate grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the couch. She told him she was hitting the reset button."

"Then what?" Josh asked clearly amused at his son's romantic fumblings. CJ had already told them in gleeful detail what she'd said to Kate about their own courtship, and Josh had to agree. So far Noah and Kate's courtship was fairly normal when compared with his and Donna's or Matt and Jodi's for that matter. Matt had fought his attraction for Jodi for a long time fearing the conflict of interest with his job. Danny had finally stepped in and spoken to the younger man. As Matt's boss he'd cleared the way for the younger man to be able to pursue his interest in the young Representative from the state of Connecticut. 

"Oh for the love of God, Joshua! They kissed," Toby growled. 

"And boy was it a kiss!" CJ added.

"'Gone with the Wind' type kiss?" Donna asked.

"Oh yeah," CJ agreed. "I thought I was going to melt."

"I can't believe we're sitting here discussing our children's love life!" Toby groused. 

"Oh, come on, Toby," Josh cajoled the other man. "They're grown ups."

Toby grumbled quietly to himself but made no further comments as his wife leaned forward towards the other couple before continuing her story.

"They finally broke the kiss, and he says 'I love you, Kate'" CJ said. "And Kate got this look in her eyes and said she loved him too."

Toby guffawed as he added, "Then your son said 'wait here' and got up and left the room."

Donna laughed as she poked Josh in the ribs and said, "Yeah, he's got your dating skills alright."

"Hey!" Josh protested. "Let's not forget your gomers. He didn't get it all from me."

"Tell me you didn't just call my daughter a gomer, Josh" Toby growled earning him a jab in the ribs from his own wife.

"Behave, Tobus" CJ commanded. "Josh didn't mean it that way, and you know it."

"So?" Donna asked. "Did he come back?"

"YES!" CJ said going back to her story. "He came back carrying a little velvet box."

"He didn't!" Donna gasped. "After one kiss he didn't..."

"Oh yes, he did," Toby replied. "Right then and there."

"Got down on one knee and did it properly too," CJ added with some satisfaction as she gave Toby a glare which he ignored. Their courtship hadn't been an easy one either, after all. He allowed himself a little grin however remembering the argument which had turned into a marriage proposal shouted at the top of his lungs and her acceptance screamed at an even louder volume.

"What did she say?" Donna demanded. "Did she say yes? What did the ring look like?"

"It's Mom's ring," Josh revealed.

"You knew?" Donna said. "You knew and didn't tell me?"

Josh looked to Toby and CJ for help but they just shook their heads. "You're on your own on this one, mi amour" CJ said.

"He just asked for it," Josh said. "I didn't know what he wanted it for."

"I told you why he was going down there to work for Toby," Donna argued. 

"I didn't think he'd do anything that stupid," Josh retorted. "I figured he just wanted to have it for when the time was right."

"Apparently the time was right," Toby mumbled quietly.

"What?" Donna gasped forgetting for the moment her anger with her husband. "She said yes?" 

"No," CJ said glaring once more at her own husband. "She said 'eventually'."

"She's wearing the ring," Toby refuted. "I'd say that means she said yes."

"She's making him court her before they get married," CJ explained. "So that's why they're not here tonight. He's taking her for a romantic dinner and then for a walk on the Mall."

Josh smirked to himself remembering that he'd more than once taken Donna on just such an outing. He met Toby's gaze and realized the other man was remembering similar stolen evenings with CJ just before the end of Bartlet's second term in office.

"They're so like us it's scary," Donna commented.

"So what about Sara and Billy?" CJ asked remembering one of the other courtships taking place in the family.

"Fighting," Josh said simply. 

"About what?" CJ asked curiously. "When we were here a month ago they were hardly out of each other's sight."

"Billy's having a hard time dealing with Sara's job," Donna explained. "He thinks its too dangerous."

"Well that had to have gone over well," Toby remarked facetiously. "The Sisterhood is alive and well in Sara."

Donna and CJ both smiled with pride at that comment before the smile slipped from Donna's face. "He's right to be worried," she said. "But he's going to have to learn to live with it just like we have."

"Speak for yourself," Josh growled.

"Oh stop it, Joshua" she growled back. "You've won. She's not going overseas anymore. She's going to be a feature writer."

"Yeah and her first feature is an expose on WVWP!" Josh fumed as he subconsciously rubbed the scar on his chest. 

"She knows how to handle herself, Josh" Toby reminded his friend quietly as he noted Josh's action. "Or do you need me to get the CNN video out to remind you."

Josh couldn't help smiling at the memory. "She did good there," he agreed. "But that doesn't mean she'll get out of it next time."

"She got out of the thing in China," CJ reminded him.

"With three broken ribs," he retorted. "Not even the Secret Service gets it right every time."

Donna had to bite the inside of her lip to keep herself from revealing just what had caused Sara's broken ribs. She knew she'd pay for keeping Sara's secret if he ever found out, but she worried how he'd react to their youngest being shot. The episodes of PTSD didn't happen often any more, but they had never completely gone away. The night Sara had interviewed them for the Post the nightmares had returned for both of them and had lasted for about a week. She knew too that Josh had experienced at least one flashback since then.

"Alright, change of subject," CJ ordered knowing they were beating a dead horse when it came to Sara and her job. "How are Matt and Jodi handling parenthood?"

"They're adjusting well to the lack of sleep," Josh smirked. 

"They set a crib up in her office for him," Donna added. 

"What a novel concept," CJ remarked sarcastically. "I wonder where they got that idea from." 

They all knew that there had been a crib almost constantly set up in the Lyman Congressional offices. It had been used not just for Josh and Donna's own children, but for the infants of their staff as well. It was one of many reasons why both Lymans had attracted such loyalty in their staff over the years. Not that they had their own mini-day care facility in their office. Staff members were allowed to keep their infants in the office with them but were expected to arrange other care once the child was walking. 

When Josh had first instituted the policy his fellow members of Congress had thought he was either insane, pulling a publicity stunt, or cowed by the wishes of his assistant cum wife. The second and third opinions were certainly valid, but they weren't the only reasons behind his decision. In reality it was just plain practical good sense. New parents came back to work quicker when they could bring the child with them. Away from the germ factories of child care, the infants were less likely to be plagued with illnesses necessitating their parents taking time off work for them. The parents also weren't in a rush to get home each night to the baby. In short, they were more productive. They built a family friendly atmosphere within their offices, and because of it, the Bartlet dynasty continued to expand as Josh and Donna 'adopted' others as Jed and Leo had adopted them.

Josh and Donna pulled out the latest pictures of baby Jed. CJ and Toby dutifully oohed and aahed over the pictures for several minutes before CJ decided to change the subject slightly. "How is Dee?" she asked. 

"Since she's moving out to the Windy City, she let her lease expire on her apartment and moved back in with Danny and Margaret," Donna explained.

"So she's being mothered to death," Toby interpreted.

"Pretty much," Josh agreed. 

"It can't be easy starting out their marriage living halfway across the country from one another," CJ murmured.

"She flew out to Chicago for the weekend last week. She and Joe closed on a house. Matt and Nora helped him find it," Donna remarked.

"Nora helped?" CJ asked in astonishment.

"Well I don't know how much help she was," Donna amended. "Matthew's been great though. The house is pretty much a handyman special. He's helping Joe fix it up."

"Gives him something to do with his time," Josh said. "Away from Nora."

Toby opened his mouth to make some no doubt pithy comment, but was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. Josh reached over the arm of the loveseat and grabbed the offending instrument. "Lyman's," he said answering the phone. He listened for a moment before urgently asking of whoever was on the other end, "Are you sure?" The intensity in his voice caused the others to sit up and focus from long ago habit. Josh covered the receiver with his hand and said quietly to Donna, "CNN." before turning his attention back to the phone. 

She grabbed the remote control and turned on the television. As the picture on the screen came to life they watched as a familiar map appeared over the shoulder of the CNN correspondent.

_"Repeating what we know so far," she said. "U.S. naval forces from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz are reportedly engaged in an air battle over the Indian Ocean. At least one U.S. fighter has been downed. There is so far no word on the pilot or rear instrument officer of the fighter."_

"Leo..." CJ whispered. 


	30. Family Visit

Lt. j.g Leo Young was not having a good day. A little over three months ago he'd taken part in the first military engagement in a conflict that was rapidly descending into a full out shooting war. Even now members of his flight crew were painting two more Indian flags on his aircraft signifying the two Indian fighters he'd shot from the sky the previous night. One more confirmed kill would make him the first ace of this new conflict. He'd gotten what sleep he could knowing in a few hours he would be up patrolling the skies above the carrier group once more. At least he'd slept in his own bunk last night he told himself as he sat in the briefing room listening to the CAG go over the events of last night. Others hadn't been so lucky.

"McReedy and Hodges got pulled out of the drink last night," the CAG told them. "They'll both be okay eventually, but for now they're in sickbay. McReedy's arm is broken, and Hodges has a concussion. Chambers and Padgett didn't make it." He didn't explain further but rather paused for a moment of silence for their fallen before continuing. "On a brighter note, Lt. Young got two confirmed kills last night, and Capt. Winthrop got her first. Well done."

Leo accepted the congratulations of his fellow officers impatiently. He was ready to get this briefing over with and get back in the air. He had known Chambers and Paggett weren't going to make it. He'd seen them come into the trap too low because of engine damage. Their aircraft had burst into flames upon landing. The firefighters had managed to pull them from the wreckage, but it had been obvious that they were already dead.

"By the time you get back the group from the USO will be aboard," he continued. "And I'm still sworn to secrecy. You'll find out who they're sending when they land. Dismissed."

Leo smiled as he rose from his seat and snapped off a salute along with his fellow officers. He knew exactly who the USO performers were but had promised to keep the secret as well. As they left the briefing room the discussion turned to speculation over who these surprise entertainers were the USO was sending out here. Morale had been dropping throughout the fleet as the conflict between Pakistan and India had continued to escalate over the past three months. Orders from Washington hadn't changed from that first night of combat. Use whatever force deemed necessary to keep the peace while the diplomats worked out a permanent solution. If Josh Lyman had still been Secretary of State that strategy might have worked, but his replacement had nowhere near Josh's skill at bullying people and governments into doing what he wanted. President Robelen had appointed Harrison Blair, a longtime political crony to the position after Josh's resignation. In fairness to the man, he was an expert on international relations, but only in the world of academia. Applying that knowledge to the real world had turned out to be more difficult than the man had first thought. According to the e-mails he'd received from various members of the family rumors had been circulating in the news media and the Hill for the past two days that the President was about to replace Blair at the negotiations, but who exactly that replacement would be was still unknown. Blair had only been Acting Secretary of State anyway. His confirmation hearings had barely begun before the current conflict had started. The administration had been using the conflict to delay the hearings knowing that Blair's confirmation would be difficult. 

Hours later as Leo and his RIO taxied their aircraft to the spot the ground crew directed, they could see equipment being off-loaded from a transport by various personnel. Leo didn't have to hurry his fellow officers through their showers and into the debriefing. They were almost as anxious to see the group from the USO as he was but definitely not for the same reason. The debriefing lasted an hour before the CAG finally said, "Alright. We're done. Let's go see who the USO sent us." He closed his briefing book and led the way from the room as the more junior officers respectfully fell in behind him on their way to the Officer's mess. 

Leo was the fourth officer into the room behind the CAG. "Whiskey" Richards was forced to jump out of the way as the red-headed figure of Penny Ziegler hurled herself at Leo. "Leo!" she shouted as she wrapped him in a fierce hug and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I missed you! We've been so worried."

"I missed you too, Penny Z." he replied as he draped an arm across her shoulders and the two of them led the way back to where the rest of the USO group sat mingling with some of the officers. "Hi, Aunt C.J." Leo greeted the older woman. "How was the flight?" he asked with a smirk.

C.J. groused with a sigh, "I still miss Air Force One."

"Yeah, that would spoil anyone," Leo agreed pretending sympathy as he continued to play along with the long-running family joke.

"Introduce us, Cub" the CAG, Captain Linton, commanded.

"Yes, sir," Leo said. "Captain, I'd like you to meet C.J. Ziegler and her daughter Penny. This is Penny's wife, Jill." Leo introduced the members of Penny's band and the other members of the group as best he could with C.J., Jill, and Penny supplying what names he didn't know. When all of the visitors had been introduced Leo started down the line introducing his fellow officers. The two groups made small talk for the next hour before dinner was served. The Navy officers asking the performers what it was like being in show business, and the entertainers asking the Navy officers what it was like in the Navy. 

After dinner C.J. leaned over and whispered quietly in Leo's ear, "Is there someplace we could talk alone? I'll fill you in on what I know."

Leo nodded and helped her up from her seat at the table. "Wait for me by the door," he ordered quietly. She nodded and followed his direction while he leaned down close to the CAG's ear. "Sir, my aunt and I are going for a walk to talk privately. You may be interested in what she has to say," he murmured quietly. 

Linton nodded slightly then excused himself from the conversation and walked with Leo to the door. A few officers in the room noticed, but protocol demanded they say nothing. "Think the admiral should be in on this?" Linton asked referring to the commander of the battle group.

"He might find the information useful," she agreed.

Linton nodded. He led them a short distance to a phone mounted on the bulkhead. They waited as he picked up the phone and dialed. "Where's the admiral?" he demanded. "Transfer me to him. Sir, you got a couple minutes? One of our guests would like to have a talk. I think it would be beneficial. Yes, sir. Thank you," he said before replacing the handset. "We're going to meet the admiral in his office."

Leo nodded as he placed his hand at the small of C.J.'s to guide her through the maze of gray metal that made up the USS Nimitz.

"Enter," a voice behind the door said when they reached their destination and Linton knocked at the door. He opened it and gestured for C.J. to precede him into the room. He then followed her leaving Leo to enter last closing the door behind him. "So what's up, CAG?" Admiral Tony Douglass asked. 

"Cub says we might be interested in what Mrs. Ziegler has to say," Jerry Linton told his friend and commanding officer.

"Ma'am," Douglass greeted his visitor as he stood and ushered her to a chair. "What can you tell me?"

"Blair will be out by the end of next week," she said.

"Well that's a relief," Leo mumbled before he thought better of it. He looked sharply at the other two officers hoping they hadn't heard his comment, but he could tell from the expression on Linton's face that that wasn't the case. In the military it was never a good career move to criticize the commander-in-chief especially to your superior officers. 

"Nothing leaves this room," Tony Douglass assured the young aviator. "Don't hold back here. I need to know what's going to happen politically so I can be prepared militarily."

Leo nodded with relief. "Who's replacing him?" he asked C.J.

"Robelen tried to get Josh back" C.J. told him.

Leo snorted derisively. "You're kidding right?" he asked.

"Why should she be kidding?" Douglass asked the younger man. "Why did Secretary Lyman resign? There was never any explanation given."

"The President wanted him to apologize publicly to the West Virginia White Pride," C.J. told the admiral. 

Linton whistled quietly. "I bet that didn't go over well," he guessed knowing the history from his research after Leo's family connections had been revealed. He had wanted to know just how deep the young officer's connections went. The answer had staggered him, as well as the fact that Young apparently didn't take advantage of those family connections. 

"Oh, it was worse than that. Guess who they sent over from the White House to try to convince him," C.J. ordered Leo.

Linton and Douglass watched as Leo considered and discarded names under his breath until his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Not her! They couldn't be that stupid."

"They were," C.J. confirmed before grudgingly adding, "To be fair, she tried to refuse and apologized to Josh and Donna about it afterwards."

"Care to fill the rest of us in, Young?" Linton demanded irritably.

"White House Communications Director..."

"I've met her," Douglass interrupted. "Bit of a tight ass."

"Mandy Hampton-Marshall is more than a bit of a tight ass. She's queen of all bitches," C.J. corrected. "You know the saying 'Heaven doesn't want me and Hell's afraid I'll take over'?" she asked. "Mandy probably coined it about herself."

"You don't like her much I take it?" Linton joked. The slight smile on his face slipped though as he caught sight of the expressions on C.J. and Leo's faces. "Bit of history there?" he guessed.

"She and Josh dated during the Bartlet for America campaign. She was working at the White House when Josh...when..." C.J. stuttered as she rubbed absently at the necklace she wore.

"When the shooting happened," Leo finished for her as he gently pulled her hand away from her neck. It was a nervous gesture she'd developed over the years whenever speaking of that night. Very few knew the story behind it however. Leo knew she still had the broken necklace Sam had returned to her and that it remained broken to this day. In times of crisis she would often carry it with her, worrying it through her fingers like a rosary.

C.J.'s focus snapped back to the present and she nodded to Leo. "She didn't even go to the hospital. She quit the next day and took off. She was always horrible to him, but to just _**leave**_ like that while he was fighting to live. Not that she was missed all that much," C.J. finished quietly before mumbling a few more epitaphs under her breath about her former colleague.

"Okay..." Linton drawled out. "So I guess Lyman said no."

"Oh, yeah" C.J. assured the CAG. "He told her they'd be having snowball fights in Hell before he'd work for the current administration again."

"So who _**will **_be taking Blair's place?" Admiral Douglass asked trying to bring the discussion back on topic.

"Undersecretary Will Fernandez," C.J. answered. "He'll be heading over next week to re-open talks, and Donna's going along as a Congressional observer. Will's a good kid, and with Donna's back door help, they should make headway quickly."

"Donna's going?" Leo repeated with a raised eyebrow. "You know, C.J., I've been hearing a lot of things from the family. First Noah goes to work for Toby, then Sara doesn't fight it when Danny puts her back on the D.C. bureau. Josh did those lectures in Texas where I hear he had dinner with Ethan and Bri."

"And?" C.J. challenged with a smile.

"And...I'm putting two and two together and coming up with sixteen hundred," Leo said.

"You add very well," she complemented her nephew who laughed deeply much to the consternation of the other two Navy officers.


	31. Calling Home

"So how are the negotiations going?" Josh asked his wife.

"Not bad," the image on the screen told him. "Will's doing a good job."

"Did you have any doubts?" Josh asked as he lifted his beer bottle to his lips to take another sip. He toed off his shoes under the coffee table where the camera wouldn't catch him. He still remembered that lock down in the White House when he'd first met Will. The kid had impressed him even then. Before the group had left the building he'd given the teenager his card and told him to keep in touch. The teenager had done just that via e-mails and letters through the rest of the Bartlet administration. When Josh next saw him face to face, Billy had become Will, a recent graduate of Harvard. He'd become newly elected Senator Lyman's new assistant. 

"Of course not," Donna snorted. It was she after all who had set Will on his current career path. Little more than a year after he'd joined the staff, Donna had told Josh that the position was holding Will back. Josh had agreed but didn't know what they could do about it. Donna had done a little digging within their network of associates and come up with a junior position at the U.S. Embassy in China. She'd brought the possibility to Josh and together they'd presented it to Will. The assignment had been anything but dull and had allowed Will's natural talents to shine. He'd been moving up the ranks of the State Department ever since. When Josh had become Secretary, he'd immediately recalled Will from a post overseas and made the younger man his deputy. "Have you packed for your trip?" she asked changing the subject.

"Yes, Donnatella. My bags are packed. Sara will be here at 8 am tomorrow to take me to Dulles," Josh confirmed for her. 

"Did you pack..."

"Pills, check. Heating pad, check. Extra socks, check" Josh interrupted.

"Very good, Joshua" she complimented him with a smile. 

"Miss you," he said fiddling with his wedding ring.

"I miss you too," Donna responded, "but don't get maudlin on me!"

"No, ma'am!" her husband agreed with a smile that showed the full effect of his dimples.

"Any news from the kids?" she asked.

"Which?" Josh asked.

"Take your pick" she commanded.

"I think Noah and Kate are getting closer to setting a date for the wedding," Josh said. "They came over last night and brought me dinner. Did you tell them to do that?"

"Uh huh," Donna admitted with a smile of her own.

"I can cook!" Josh protested.

"Not from what Sara tells me," Donna argued trying unsuccessfully to smother her giggles. 

Josh didn't reply for a moment. He just sat watching her laugh at him. Her hair was gray now and there were wrinkles on her face, but he still saw the young woman she'd been that first day in his office at the 'Bartlet for America' campaign headquarters telling him she could be valuable. "My own daughter turned me in!" he mock growled as her laughter died when she noticed he wasn't laughing along. 

"Like I didn't know already, Joshua" Donna snorted. "Or have you forgotten our first anniversary?"

Josh scratched behind his ear as he lowered his face trying to keep Donna from seeing the smile on his own face. "I got distracted," Josh protested though his dimples were out in full force.

"I'm just glad that C.J. wasn't your first call that time or we might have lost the entire house," Donna teased.

"It was just a small grease fire," he argued playing along. On the screen Donna smiled at him. Josh thought of this smile as her 'you're an idiot, but I love you anyway' smile. 

"It was a small grease fire until you poured water on it," Donna corrected.

Josh was saved from attempting a comeback by the sound of the front door opening. "Dad?!" Sara called.

"In the living room, Sara" Josh called. "I'm talking to your mom."

"Hi, Mom" Sara said to the screen as she flopped down on the couch next to her father. "Where's Billy?"

"Hold on let me get him," Donna said just before she disappeared from the camera's view. 

As they waited for Donna to bring Billy back, Josh asked, "So whatcha need, Peanut?" 

"Dad, stop calling me Peanut," Sara admonished.

"Never," he told her. "Now what's up?"

Before Sara could answer Donna appeared back on the screen with Billy in tow.

"Hi," Billy said sharing an intimate smile with Sara.

"Hi," she said returning the greeting.

"Okay, I'm going to leave the room so you can talk dirty to Billy without blushing," Donna said on the screen. "Joshua," she added.

"What?" he asked feigning wide-eyed innocence.

"Go in the kitchen," she ordered.

"But I'm not allowed to cook," he protested as he resorted to biting the inside of his cheek to keep the smile off his face.

Sara wasn't as patient as her mother, at least not after having been separated from Billy for several weeks. She gave her father a shove off the couch. "Go," she ordered.

"Oww, Sara!" he grumbled. "I'm an old man! You could have hurt me!"

"Oh, Joshua, you big baby" Donna said. "Go in the kitchen, and I'll call you on the second line."

"M'kay. Will you talk dirty to me?" he teased.

"You know it," Donna murmured pitching her voice low and sexy.

"I thought I told you I did not want to know about your sex life!" Sara reminded them.

Josh could here Donna's laughter from the screen as he headed into the kitchen to wait for her call on the other line.

"Who knew teasing our kids about sex would be so much fun?" he said by way of greeting when the phone rang.

Donna's image on the much smaller screen of the kitchen phone chuckled at him. "That was fun," she agreed. 

They would have been surprised to know that in the living room Sara was agreeing with them. "When we're their age, I want to be just like that with our kids," she told Billy.

"Jesus, Sara!" Billy swore. "Don't say things like that."

"Why not?" Sara asked glaring at him angrily.

"Because I'm a couple thousand miles away. I haven't seen you in two weeks, and you saying that makes me want to put you under me and work on making those kids" he growled in a voice hoarse with need.

"When you get back we'll have to do that then," she said.

"What?" Billy asked.

"Put me under you and work on making those kids," she answered giving him a smile that would have done justice to da Vinci's Mona Lisa for all the secrets it promised to reveal to him.

"I'm going to take a cold shower. A very long cold shower," he announced reaching for the button that would disconnect their call. "Love you."

"Love you, too" she said. Once Billy's image on the screen had faded she yelled. "I'm off the phone, Dad. If you're talking dirty to Mom, cut it out. I need to talk to you."

"About what?" he asked as he returned to the living room. He hit the button and her mother's image reappeared on the screen.

"I've got a line on who's behind one of the shadow corporations funding the WVWP," Sara said.

"Who?" Donna asked from her room in the embassy in India.

"You're not going to believe it," Sara warned.

"Who?" Josh repeated Donna's question.

"The name on the articles of incorporation is Mary Turner," Sara said.

"Do I know Mary Turner?" Josh asked.

"Turner was her name at the time the corporation was formed" Sara explained. "You know her by her married name."

"You're kidding," Josh scoffed. "Marsh? Mary Marsh?"

"The corporation was started by her parents to funnel their assets to her upon their death without going through the estate tax," Sara explained.

"So this was a long time ago then," Josh said. "I know she's a bigot, but..."

"The last donation from this corporation to the WVWP appeared on last year's disclosures," Sara told her parents quietly afraid of the reaction she was sure to come. "She's still giving them money."

"I'm going to murder that bitch!" 


	32. Comeuppance

"Dad, come on or you'll miss your flight," Sara told her father the next morning as she dragged him out of the Lyman's brownstone towards her car.

"Good," Josh said. "I've got things to do here in town instead."

"No, you don't," Sara ordered as she threw his luggage in the back seat. "You're getting on that plane if I have to get Matt, Noah, and Mike over here to carry you to it." Josh opened his mouth to protest only to be cut off by his youngest as she opened the passenger door and shoved her father in. "Leave Mary Marsh to me."

Josh recognized the look on Sara's face. It was one he'd seen often on her mother's face. Though if asked, Donna would say she'd learned that particular expression from her father which would also be true since Donna had learned it from him. "Can't I stay and watch?" Josh whined as Sara quickly checked the traffic and pulled out heading towards Dulles.

"It'll be on CNN tonight," Sara promised as she maneuvered her compact car in and out of traffic. Josh put his hand on the dash board to steady himself only now remembering why very few people drove with Sara voluntarily. Along with everything else he'd taught her, Ron Butterfield had taught Sara defensive driving, Secret Service style. It was a good thing Sara was as beautiful as her mother because she'd flirted or cried her way out of more than her fair share of traffic tickets.

"What will be on CNN tonight?" Josh asked as he closed his eyes unable to watch as the little sports car careened around yet another corner. "Sara! This isn't Qualifications at Indianapolis!"

'Huh?" Sara asked. "Oh!" she said as she pulled her foot off the accelerator. "Relax, Dad."

"Relax," Josh whimpered. "Not likely. And just what do you have planned?" Josh asked his daughter.

"You'll just have to wait and see like everybody else," Sara told him.

Josh argued with Sara the entire drive to the airport more to keep his mind off her driving than any real hope of winning the argument. Sara had inherited all of the Lyman stubbornness which was a definite asset in her chosen profession. In this instance it was unfortunate for Josh that she'd also inherited a full portion of Moss stubbornness. Josh knew he was outclassed, and Sara knew he knew. They were having too much fun arguing to care though. 

They argued all the way up the concourse to the security gate where Sara handed her father's bags to him. "Mary Marsh has a press conference scheduled today," Sara told her father. "I'll be there." She didn't explain further. She didn't have to.

As Josh and Sara traded a look identical dimples appeared on both their faces. Josh had planned to confront Mary at her office, but Sara planned to do him one better. "Make sure you get a tape," he told her as he walked through the metal detector laughing.

"Have fun, Dad!" she shouted after him.

"I'm apparently not going to have as much fun as you are," he yelled back. 

When his flight landed in Austin a few hours later Josh instantly recognized Ranger Keegan from his past visit. "Ranger," he greeted the lawman who was already reaching for the bag Josh had carried onto the flight with him. 

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Secretary" Keegan said.

Josh reminded the other man, "I thought I told you, it's Josh."

"Yes, sir" Keegan agreed with a smile as he led the way out of the airport terminal to the waiting vehicle. "I picked this up for you on the way in," Tom told Josh as he handed the older man an unopened bottle of water. 

Josh let the bottle rest in his lap as he pulled the pills from his pocket. "Thanks," he told the ranger as he gently shook a couple painkillers into the palm of his hand and downed them with a sip of water from the bottle. 

Once again it was Texas' First Lady herself that greeted him at the door to the governor's mansion. "You get more beautiful every day, Bri" Josh told her. "I've come to steal you from your husband. We'll run away to Rio and lie on the beach drinking piña coladas."

"Not on your life, Joshua," Bri answered with a laugh. She linked arms with him and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "She'll be home soon, Josh."

Josh gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek for her sympathy as they walked towards Ethan's office. Who would have thought thirty-five years ago that it would be Josh not Donna who was widowed by politics.

"Joshua, are you flirting with my wife?" Ethan asked as he came around from behind his desk to give Josh a hug of his own.

"Me, governor?" Josh asked feigning innocence. He returned Ethan's hug and gave the younger man a slap on the back. "Although how you ever convinced her to marry you, I'll never know." 

"You're a fine one to talk, Josh" Ethan teased. "How you ended up with Donna is one of the great mysteries of the universe." Josh merely smiled in answer. "Let's talk," Ethan commanded pointing Josh to a seat on the couch. Ethan made a subtle gesture with his hand and the others in the room silently withdrew leaving the first couple of Texas to talk with their friend.

"So, have you decided?" Josh asked as soon as the door had closed.

Ethan looked at Bri giving her one last chance to change her mind. When she nodded Ethan took her hand in his and turned back to Josh. "We're in," he said.

Josh smiled as he held his hand out to Ethan. The two men shook hands, and Josh once again kissed Bri on the cheek.

"We've got a lot to talk about," Ethan warned.

Josh nodded. "Before we get into that though there's something I need to see on the news," he said gesturing towards the television.

Bri reached over and grabbed the remote control off the side table. She flipped on the screen and began moving through the channels. "What am I looking for?" she asked.

"There," Josh said pointing to the screen. "Mary Marsh's press conference."

"Her?" Ethan asked though the tone in which he said it made it sound more like a curse. 

"What's she doing now?" Bri grumbled.

"She's about to get her comeuppance for something she's apparently been doing for more than thirty years," Josh answered.

"It's starting," Bri said turning up the volume.

They listened for several minutes as Mary Marsh blasted the current administration for once again vetoing a bill that would allow prayer in school. It wasn't until the reporters began asking questions that things got interesting.

_"Mrs. Marsh," the CNN correspondent called. Once he'd been acknowledged he continued, "Tomorrow morning the Washington Post will be carrying a story reporting a list of corporations that have funded the West Virginia White Pride. Do you have any comment?"_

_"Why would I?" she asked._

Josh leaned forward in his seat. He'd been sparring with this woman for more than three decades. He could easily recognize the hint of panic in her expression.

_"One of these corporations is the Turner Glen Corporation. Are you familiar with it?" the reporter asked._

_"I don't believe so," Mary answered. The other reporters in the crowd had become quiet waiting to here just what the CNN correspondent was after. Many of them knew Sara and recognized her standing near the edge of the crowd. They wondered why she was allowing the CNN correspondent to steal what they assumed was her story because of the connection with her father._

_"Really?" Sara asked stepping forward to stand next to her co-conspirator. "The articles of incorporation currently in my possession clearly show the corporation was formed by your parents Robert Turner and Jessica Glenn Turner for the express purpose of conveying their estate to you without penalty from the estate tax. Care to comment, Mrs. Marsh?" From the expression on her face there was no doubt, Sara didn't really expect to get one._

Ethan leaned forward and slapped Josh's arm in congratulations as he grinned at the other man. Josh returned Ethan's smile with a dimpled grin of his own. "That's my girl!" he cheered.

_The reporters that had been listening quietly broke their silence then as a cacophony of questions rose from the gathered crowd. A member of Marsh's staff hastily stepped forward to end the conference and remove her from the podium, but before he could Kate and Noah had mounted the steps._

_"Mrs. Marsh, you are hereby served in the case of Adam, Trina, and Danielle Genaro versus West Virginia White Pride et. al.," Noah said placing the papers in her hand._

_"This is a subpoena ordering you to produce any and all documents pertaining to the Turner Glen Corporation," Kate said handing a second set of papers to Mary Marsh._

_"See you in court, ma'am" Noah said with a smirk as he put an arm around Kate and descended the steps into the crowd of reporters who immediately began firing questions at the two attorneys._

"This calls for champagne," Ethan decreed.

"Damn straight!" Josh crowed. 


	33. Hail Dorothy!

"That was fun," Kate told Noah with a giggle as she refilled her glass from the bottle of champagne sitting in a bucket of ice on the coffee table of Noah's former apartment. He'd sublet it to his sister who was now happily sharing it with Billy Seaborn.

"Hail Dorothy!" Noah agreed toasting his sister with his glass.

"Hail Dorothy!" the others agreed as they raised their glasses to Sara as well.

Sara giggled as she sat in the arm chair across from where Noah and Kate snuggled together in a second arm chair while Matt and Jodi sat on the couch. "Let's play it again," she suggested. "I want to see the look on her face one more time."

"We've already watched it a dozen times, Sara" Matt complained. He smiled to take some of the sting from his words.

"And it gets better every time," Noah retorted gleefully. 

"I have to admit, I never would have believed Mary Marsh could be behind one of those shadow corporations," Kate said. "I can't believe she managed to keep it hidden this long!"

"No one was looking for it," Sara said. "We had so many other things to hate her for."

"True," Noah admitted. "Did you send it to everyone yet?"

"Yeah," Sara answered. "Dad was watching with Ethan and Bri. They send their congratulations."

"I didn't know they'd had any run-ins with Mary Marsh," Matt said.

"Immigration," Jodi said. 

"Oh!" Matt replied. "Yeah, I guess I can see that."

"Her ideas are bit..." Sara hesitated here trying to find just the right word.

"Draconian?" Noah supplied. "She wants to close the border. Stop immigration altogether!"

Jodi snorted. "You know that will never happen, Noah" she argued.

"Which just makes her ideas all the crazier," Noah muttered.

"Enough about that," Sara decreed. "We're celebrating. No shop talk for the rest of the night."

"Agreed," Matt said.

"So what does that leave us to talk about?" Kate asked.

Jodi and Sara traded a sly look before answering together, "Weddings!"

Noah kept his expression carefully blank as he suddenly found the ceiling absolutely fascinating.

Kate got a sly look in her eye as well as she replied, "I was thinking it would be wonderful to be married in the Rose Garden like our parents were."

"The Rose Garden!" Noah objected. "The election isn't for another two and a half years!"

"You don't think we could get President Robelen to let us hold it there?" she asked with feigned wide-eyed innocence.

"After what Dad said to him?" Sara asked with a snort. 

"You're killing me here, Kate" Noah muttered as he set her on her feet allowing him to stand. He pressed her back into the arm chair and left the room. "I'll be right back."

"When are you going to put him out of his misery?" Jodi asked after her brother had left the room.

"Soon," Kate admitted. "I just couldn't resist though."

"That was a pretty good one," Matt agreed. "I'm glad you didn't put me through that much," he told his wife. 

"I tortured you, too. Or don't you remember taking out a full page ad in the Post asking me to marry you," she reminded him.

"I got an employee discount," Matt joked. "Besides, I had to do something to top your father."

"Oh!" Sara said jumping up from her seat and running on bare feet into the bedroom she'd turned into her office. "Guess what I've got! Mom and Dad lent it to me for background for my book," she told the others as she returned to the room with a large leather-bound book in her hands. She sat on the floor beside the coffee table.

"You're kidding!" Jodi gasped as she dropped to the floor opposite her sister and cleared the glasses and bottles from the table so Sara could put the book on it. "Have you ever seen this, Matt?" she asked.

"What is it?" 

"It's the book Dad had Grandma make when he proposed to Mom," Sara told him as she flipped to the last page of the book. "See," she said pointing to the elegant script on the final page.

"He tied her engagement ring to the page," Jodi said touching the ribbons.

"So what's in the rest of the book?" Matt asked.

"Pictures of them," Kate answered. "I haven't seen this in years."

Sara flipped back to the beginning of the book and began leafing through the pages. The women took turns telling stories about the infamous courtship of Josh and Donna. 

"Look at that," Jodi sighed as she pointed to a picture of her parents asleep on Air Force One. 

"Who's this?" Matt asked pointing to a picture of an elderly woman clearly scolding Josh while Donna stood behind her watching with a smile on her face.

"That's Mrs. Landingham," Jodi told her husband.

Matt nodded. When they'd gone through the entire album, Sara returned it to her office. She was struggling under the weight of a huge box when she returned to the living room. "Let me help," Matt ordered as he took the box from her and carried it over to the coffee table. He watched with amusement as each woman grabbed a photo album from within and began leafing through it. 

"Remember this?" Sara said pointing to a picture taken at the wake following their Grandpa Leo's funeral. 

"That's the day I met Grandpa Jed," Kate remembered. 

Sara hesitated a moment then took the bull by the horns and asked, "Kate, what did Grandpa Jed say to you that day?" 

"He said a lot of things," Kate replied. "Mostly he told me about CJ and Toby."

"There's Peanut!" Jodi crowed pointing to a picture of Sara in her first grade play dressed as a peanut. 

"Burn that picture," Sara ordered to which the others just laughed.

"There's Super Billy," Jodi laughed as she pointed to a picture of a small blond boy with a cast on his arm.

"Super Billy? How'd he break his arm?" Matt asked as he flipped the page in the album he was looking at.

"Noah and I convinced him he could fly like superman," Jodi admitted with a snicker. "So he jumped out the hayloft at the farm. Aunt Ainsley and Uncle Sam wanted to murder us."

"Is that you, honey?" Matt asked his wife as he pointed to a photo of several very dirty children in a tub full of bubbles.

"Grandpa Jed took us out to the pond and showed us how to make mud pies," Sara reminisced with a laugh as she turned the album towards her.

"Grandma was so not thrilled with him," Jodi said looking at the photo as well.

"Remember Grandpa Jed teaching us to drive?" Kate asked pointing to a picture of herself behind the wheel of one of the battered pickup trucks used around the Bartlet farm. The women all laughed remembering the driving lessons on the dirt roads around the farm.

The mood in the room grew somber for a time as Kate came across a photo of Noah carrying their grandpa Jed out to the porch on the Bartlet farm sometime in the last few months of his life. The progression of his MS had been mercifully swift at the end. That summer the older grandchildren helped care for Jed knowing how he hated outsiders seeing his weakness. They used their youthful strength to carry their grandfather around the farm to places his wheelchair wouldn't allow him to go, and when he became to weak to leave the house, they would take turns sitting with him. 

"Remember this?" Jodi asked pointing to a photo on the next page. Jed sat beside Abbey on the sofa watching their costumed grandchildren.

"We were performing 'Taming of the Shrew' for him," Kate murmured as a tear escaped down her cheek. "He loved Shakespeare."

"He was so weak by then," Sara whispered. "But you could tell he was enjoying it."

"What is he doing?" Kate mumbled when she realized Noah still hadn't returned. She pushed herself to her feet to go looking for him when the door to the kitchen swung open and Noah walked through.

"How does August 12th sound to you?" he asked Kate.

"For what?" she asked.

"Our Rose Garden wedding," he replied. He was literally bouncing on the balls of his feet as he smirked at her.

"You're kidding!" Kate gasped.

"You want a Rose Garden wedding. We'll have a Rose Garden wedding," Noah told her. "So August 12th?" he asked again just before he found he couldn't say another word with her lips pressed to his.

When she finally pulled back, Kate agreed, "August 12th."

Noah walked over to the vidphone and punched a button bringing the screen to life. "August 12th is perfect, ma'am" he confirmed.

"I'll expect an invitation, Noah" Mandy Hampton-Marshall told him. "Congratulations," she added before the screen went dark

"I don't know how this day could get any better," Kate sighed wrapping her arms around Noah's waist.


	34. McGarry's Spitfire

Mike McGarry put his government issue vehicle in park then followed his new partner, Jeremy Kerr, into the gathering crowd highlighted by the flashing red of fire engine and patrol car lights. He had recently been promoted to detective and been assigned to the hate crimes unit. His first few weeks he'd been assigned the scut work none of the other detectives wanted so this would be his first real case.

"What have we got?" Kerr asked the nearest uniformed officer.

"Church fire," the beat cop replied. 

"And we're here why?" Kerr asked pointing to the still burning building. "They haven't even finished putting out the fire yet. Every church fire isn't a hate crime, officer. It might not even be arson!" The beat cop didn't say a thing as he pointed his flashlight towards the cordoned off sidewalk in front of them. "I stand corrected," Kerr admitted as he looked down at the spray painted words and symbols on the ground. He pulled out his handheld and began making notes.

Without needing to be told, Mike waded into the crowd watching the church burn. He grabbed another uniformed patrol officer and murmured quietly in her ear, "Get someone out here to tape the crowd." She nodded, and he left her calling in his order to the precinct. Mike knew that many arsonists like to mingle with the crowd to watch their handiwork. Out of the corner of his eye he finally spotted the group he had known would be here somewhere. "Excuse me, Reverend," he said to the man dressed in black who was obviously comforting members of his church. "I'm Detective Mike McGarry," he told the group displaying his badge for them to inspect. "I'm with the hate crimes unit. I'd like to ask you some questions if I may?" he asked calmly letting the distrust he saw on their faces wash over him like water off a duck's back. 

His gaze swept over the crowd then he turned to look at the firefighters battling the flames. He was looking for one firefighter in particular having noted the engine numbers on the big yellow trucks as he'd driven up. He saw the name he was looking for on the back of a turnout coat worn by one of the firefighters heading into the building with a hose spraying water at the flames. He forced himself to turn his attention back to his work and the crowd gathered around him as the church's pastor spoke.

"Anything we can do to help," the older black man told Mike. "What is it you need to know?"

"Have you had any unusually threatening communications recently?" he asked. "Letters, e-mails, phone calls?"

"The Genaro's were members of our church," the reverend answered expecting Mike to understand the implications without further explanation. 

Mike nodded absently as he pulled out his own handheld. "Any that stood out more than the others? Did you keep copies somewhere other than the church?" he asked.

"Since the Genaro murder I've been sending copies to the police and the SPLC," Reverend Abe Richardson answered. "There were a couple that stood out," he admitted. 

"I'll get copies then and bring them by for you to look at?" Mike asked the clergyman. After Richardson nodded agreement, Mike turned to the crowd and asked, "Anyone hanging around lately that caught your attention?"

There were murmurs to the negative as many also shook their heads.

"What about tonight?" Mike asked. "Was the church empty when the fire started?"

"The choir was rehearsing," the reverend said gesturing to the people surrounding him.

"Did you get a warning telling you to clear the building?" Mike asked. 

"No," one of the younger men in the crowd answered. "We smelled the smoke. Started in the basement it looked like. It was burning fast by the time we found the fire. The only thing we could do was call 911 and get everyone out."

Mike nodded as he added this information to his notes. "We're going to need a list of the members of your church, sir" Mike said.

"You think one of us burned down our own church?" An angry voice in the crowd asked.

"No," Mike vehemently denied. He pointed to the spray painted words as he explained, "that's a pretty big clue to who did this especially given the Genaro's were members here. However, someone from the church may have seen something or someone suspicious. They may be getting threats that they haven't spoken about. The more information we have the easier it will be to build a case" 

He continued to conduct interviews until he hear the fire chief yell, "Get out!" His voice was raised to be heard above the noise of the crowd and the blazing fire. "Everyone out of the building! It's going to come down!"

Mike heard gasps and sobs from the members of the church around him as they watched their church burn, but he paid no attention as he once again surveyed the firefighters. "Wait here," he ordered them as he left the reverend and his people in search of someone he recognized. A few seconds later he spotted a familiar name written on the back of a heavy turnout coat. He turned the firefighter to him as he demanded, "Where is she?" 

"Mike? What are you doing here?" Firefighter Eric Kearney asked grabbing Mike's arm.

"Where is she?" he demanded again ignoring Kearney's question as the sound of creaking timbers overshadowed that of the water being pumped onto the fire.

"She's inside," the firefighter told him just before the creaking timbers finally gave way and part of the church came crashing down no longer able to bear the weight of the water being thrown at it. Mike attempted to bolt towards the raging fire, but Kearney had expected Mike's reaction and pulled him back. Mike broke free of Kearney's hold only to be stopped by a second firefighter from the same company who had noted the exchange and been ready for Mike's rush toward the fire. 

"Let me the fuck go!" Mike ordered as he struggled against the hold they had on him. They redoubled their efforts to hold him back as the horns on the big fire trucks sounded and the firefighters began shouting to their comrades still inside attempting to lead their comrades from the inferno.

"McGarry!" Kerr screamed rushing over as he saw his new partner apparently going berserk. "What the Hell do you think you're doing?" 

Mike didn't answer as he continued to struggle against the two firefighters. "Help us with him," Eric ordered.

"Christ!" the senior detective swore as he added his own weight to the other two men in keeping Mike from going into the fire. "Calm down, McGarry, or I'm going to lay you flat!" Jeremy warned.

"Go ahead and try," Mike growled shaking off Eric's grip on his arm and lunging forward dragging the other two men with him. A third firefighter tackled him like a linebacker throwing him off-balance long enough for the other men to bring him to the ground and pin him there. "Let me go!" Mike demanded as he tried to throw them off him. "I've got to..."

"You're not going in there, Mike" Eric said. "The chief's pulled everyone out. There's nothing we can do."

Rage gave him extra strength as Mike managed to throw a punch at Kearney who had been expecting another attempt to break away from their hold not an attack. Mike used their surprise to slip from the other three men. He dodged other firefighters who tried to stop him as he ran towards the burning church. He almost made it before he felt a large weight slam into his lower back bringing him to the ground once again. When he made it to his knees he looked up at the church in time to see a firefighter emerging from the flames supporting another. A hose was turned on the fire around the figures as other firefighters surged forward to take their injured from his or her rescuer who was staggering under the weight. Mike was right behind them. He pulled the mask from the firefighter's face. "Hey," Madison Davis greeted him. "What are you doing here?"

Mike didn't reply just grabbed her in a tight embrace. He didn't even notice the filthy wet turnout coat she wore. All he knew was that she was safe in his arms. As he held her at arms length when he finally let go Mike ordered in a voice gruff with emotion, "I want you to quit this damned job!"

"Mike," she admonished in a loud angry voice. 

"Let him be, Maddie" Eric told his fellow firefighter. "The first time's always the worst. Ashley didn't speak to me for a month after my first close call when we were dating, and she didn't even see it happen."

Mike took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Growing up with a mother who was a founding member of 'the Sisterhood,' he could recognize exactly how deep the hole he'd just fallen into was. "Can we back up?" he asked shamelessly using every manipulative trick of body language he'd ever learned. Considering who the members of his family were it was quite a repertoire. 

Maddie nodded grudgingly.

Instead of groveling as she'd expected, he simply kissed her once again. "Hi, honey," he whispered as he finally lifted his face from hers. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she assured him. Anything could be forgiven when he kissed her like that. "How 'bout you?" she asked with an understanding smile. 

"I'll live," Mike said tongue in cheek.

"Davis!" the chief roared from where he stood next to the large ladder truck. "Back to work!" 

"Sure, chief!" she called back. Maddie pressed a quick kiss to Mike's lips before jogging back towards her company. "I'm off at six!" she shouted back to him.

"Mom's having a family dinner tomorrow night!" he reminded her. She waved an acknowledgement over her shoulder as she went back to work.

"Pretty girl," Kerr commented from Mike's right. "Bit of a spitfire isn't she."

Mike could only laugh at his partner's understatement. "You have no idea," he told the older man.

"My wife, Susan, is with the Service," Kerr commiserated with him. "On the Vice President's detail."

As they got back to work, Mike and his partner traded stories of life with a spitfire. Their jovial mood was shattered a few hours later as a firefighter searching the still smoldering church called out, "We've got a body here!"


	35. Surprise!

"Mom? Pop?" Mike called as he opened the front door to his childhood home. When they'd decided to marry, Danny had agreed to move into the McGarry home for Mike and Dee's sake so they could stay in the same school. With his younger half-brother about to start college, his mother had been making noises about moving into a smaller place. Mike had already spoken with his mother and sister about buying their shares of the home from them. He'd never be able to afford it on a cop's salary, but then, he didn't have to. Leo McGarry had left more than enough to his children, and that money had grown considerably over the years thanks to the careful investments overseen first by Jed Bartlet, Nobel laureate in economics, and then by Mike himself. Jed Bartlet had made sure none of his brood of grandchildren grew up ignorant about money and finance. The money to buy out his mom and sister wouldn't even make a dent in his investments nor would the glittering emerald and diamond engagement ring and matching wedding bands that he'd picked up this morning after his overnight shift.

"We're in the family room," Margaret called to her son. "We've got a surprise for you, Mike! Did you bring Maddie with you tonight?"

Mike smiled as he wrapped an arm around the woman in question. "Yeah, she was on duty last night" he called back as he guided Maddie down the hall to the family room. He leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek because of this he wasn't looking as he asked, "So what's the surprise?"

"Us," Dee answered from where she sat on the couch holding her two month old daughter. Her husband Joe sat beside her absently twirling a lock of her red hair between his fingers as he spoke quietly with Danny.

"When did you get here?" Mike gasped as he bent and gave her a hug. As he straightened he deftly transferred his niece from her mother's arms into his own. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"We weren't sure we were going to be able to," Dee admitted. "Dani and I needed to get clearance from the doctor, and Joe was in the middle of some big investigation."

Out of professional curiosity, Mike raised an eyebrow in question to his brother-in-law. Joe shrugged as he said, "Those bodies they pulled out of Lake Michigan."

"That serial killer?" Mike asked. 

"No shop talk until after dinner!" Margaret ordered as she and Danny carried munchies into the room from the kitchen. 

"Peace, Mom!" Mike said with a grin. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek careful of the baby in his arms. "Or should I say Grandma?" he asked cheekily as he looked down at the baby looking up at him from his arms. He held his finger out for Dani to grab. As soon as her tiny hand locked onto his finger, she brought her fist up to her mouth for a taste. 

"Mom will do," Margaret told him giving him a kiss in return. She caressed the baby's silky cheek as she told Maddie, "We're so glad you got to come tonight! Mike couldn't remember if you would be off duty when I called last night."

"I got off this morning," Maddie told her. "So I've slept most of the day."

"Good!" Margaret declared. "Then you can help Dee and I get the rest of the munchies from the kitchen, and we'll leave the men to talk behind our backs."

The men watched the three women leave the room before Danny broke the silence asking Joe, "How's it feel being a dad?" 

"I'm in awe of her," Joe said grinning like a loon at his baby girl lying content in her uncle's arms. "I miss sleep though," he admitted ruefully.

"I hear Nora's been helping Dee with the baby?" Mike said.

"She's good with kids," Joe said. "Adults, not so much. Matt's quite a guy. I've gotten to know him a lot better the last couple months. He's got some stories! I think he misses life at the station now that he's retired." He didn't really have to explain to the others. They'd all wanted to escape Nora as well, and none of them were married to her.

"I'll have to introduce him to Maddie the next time they come out. They can swap stories," Mike said. "I hear he's helping you fix up your new house."

"It's a God damned money pit," Joe growled then shrugged. "Dee loves it so what can I do."

"Buy stock in Black & Decker," Mike advised chuckling at his brother-in-law's expense.

"You laugh now," Joe warned as he cast a significant look in the direction of the kitchen.

Mike didn't reply. Instead he fished a small black box out of his pocket and tossed it one-handed to Joe. Danny moved closer to his son-in-law's side to get a better look at the rings. "Nice," Danny commented. 

"They'll look good on a redhead," Joe added. The sound of female voices coming down the hallway forced him to close the box and toss it back to Mike who put it back in his pocket just before the three ladies returned to the room. The women eyed them suspiciously noting the silence in the room, but thankfully they didn't ask any questions each assuming the silence was due to the men breaking Margaret's edict against shop talk.

"We're here!" Josh's voice echoed through the house from the foyer.

"Family room, Josh!" Danny yelled to his friend. A moment later the entire Lyman clan plus significant others wandered into the room. 

"Dee!" the three younger women squealed at the unexpected sight of their cousin. 

As they rushed to hug her she said, "Surprise!"

Matt dropped Jed's diaper bag out of the way along the wall then joined the others in greeting the pair from Chicago. "So I hear you've been putting up with my mom," he said to Joe as Jed lunged towards him. At a little more than six months, Jed was already the budding politician. He was full of smiles, and he'd never met a stranger. His sweet disposition meant that Jodi was often able to keep him with her even in meetings on the Hill. Many of the older members would often comment with a smile about taking meetings with her parents while she played on the floor at their feet. "Thanks," he told the other man as he transferred his son to Joe's arms. 

"She's good with DeeDee," Joe said. "And your dad and brothers have been great helping us get settled in Chicago."

Before Matt could ask after his family, Donna broke in demanding, "DeeDee? You're calling that baby DeeDee? You give her a beautiful name like Danielle Donnatella Young, and you nickname her DeeDee?"

"Only when he wants to annoy me," Dee said leveling a disapproving look at her husband. "He thinks it's cute." Dee traded a look and a shrug with the other women in the room. Her husband and the other men in the room correctly translated it as 'He's a man. What can you do?'

"Why don't you like it?" Joe asked. The wide-eyed innocence of his expression didn't fool any of them.

"Besides the fact that my nickname is Dee, and that nicknaming our daughter DeeDee is just too sappy for words?" Dee asked.

"DeeDee sounds like a name for one of those little yappy dogs," Margaret said adding a glare for her son-in-law. The same glare that cowed the indomitable Leo McGarry into obeying her idiosyncratic rules. Unfortunately, Joe appeared to be as immune to it as her own sons.

Maddie smirked as she joined the women adding, "Or an empty headed blonde debutante."

"Hey!" Donna and her daughters protested as one.

"You're blonde but no one could accuse any of you of being empty headed," Billy told the three women as he wrapped his arms around Sara from behind. He and Donna had returned from their 'observing' just last night. Their one week mission had turned into almost a month before sanity had finally broken out, at least temporarily. No one really expected the peace they'd brokered to last, but there was always hope. The general public might not realize just what part Senator Lyman played in the peace process, but those in power in Washington did. The whispers of Senator Lyman being made Senate Majority Leader would become fact in a little over two weeks. However as Majority Leader, Donna would need a press secretary with more experience than the young woman currently in that position. Donna had talked to the woman who had luckily agreed that she didn't have the experience to handle the added work and pressure. While Josh and Donna both wished CJ was available and willing that wasn't the case, so they'd been carefully coaxing their second choice candidate into taking the position. Donna had gone so far as to enlist the woman's grandmother to help persuade her. In typical Josh fashion, he'd groused that he wished he'd thought of it first.

As the sat around the family room, the adults munched on the informal buffet Margaret had set up as they talked. It wasn't long before talk moved on from the goings on within the family to the lawsuit. 

"I don't want to talk about this any more tonight," Margaret declared. "What did Ethan say Josh?"

"They're in," Josh replied. "They had a list of people they wanted us to look at for the campaign and positions in the administration."

Maddie had a bewildered look on her face as she leaned close to Mike and whispered, "What's he talking about?"

Mike leaned close and whispered in her ear, "Donna's going to run for President."

It was the matter of fact way he stated it that caused her eyes to widen. It also brought home to her just how different Mike's family was to her own. "Excuse me," she murmured quietly as she rose from the couch.

Mike had a confused expression on his face as he rose to follow, but Matt's hand on his arm stopped him. "Let me go," he said. Before Mike could protest Matt had followed her from the room. It didn't take Matt long to find her standing in the kitchen drawing in deep shuddering breathes. "Finally hit you huh?" he asked.

"What?" Maddie asked.

"That you're dating a man who called the former President of the United States 'grandpa'" Matt elucidated. "I mean, I knew Jodi was a Bartlet when we were dating. I'd met her parents and everything, but when we first got engaged it finally hit me what that really meant. My future father-in-law was the Secretary of State. Donna saw me panic. She took me aside and told me that they didn't care that I didn't have an Ivy league education. I made Jodi happy."

"My dad's a fourth generation cop from Boston," she said. "We were poor, Matt. My brothers are cops and firefighters. I barely finished high school!"

"My dad's a firefighter. So are two of my brothers. My sister's a teacher. They don't care, Maddie" Matt told her with utter confidence. "All they care about is that you make Mike happy. They already consider you family or they wouldn't have said anything about Donna's plans."

Maddie looked at him as she considered his words. He waited patiently until he saw the moment her tension lifted then he gestured for her to precede him back into the family room. "Welcome to the family, Maddie" he said as she passed him.


End file.
